LEVIATHAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does leviathan mean? 

• LEVIATHAN (noun)
  The noun LEVIATHAN has 2 senses:

1. the largest or most massive thing of its kind

2. monstrous sea creature symbolizing evil in the Old Testament

  Familiarity information: LEVIATHAN used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LEVIATHAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The largest or most massive thing of its kind

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

they were assigned the leviathan of textbooks

Hypernyms ("leviathan" is a kind of...):

freak; lusus naturae; monster; monstrosity (a person or animal that is markedly unusual or deformed)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Monstrous sea creature symbolizing evil in the Old Testament

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("leviathan" is a kind of...):

mythical creature; mythical monster (a monster renowned in folklore and myth)

 Context examples 

I wish to be a better man than I have been, than I am; as Job's leviathan broke the spear, the dart, and the habergeon, hindrances which others count as iron and brass, I will esteem but straw and rotten wood.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)