leviathan (English)
Where does "leviathan" come from?
The English noun 'leviathan' comes from Middle English forms like 'leviathan'[1]. These trace back through Late Latin 'leviathan' as a transliteration of Biblical Hebrew 'liwyāṯān'[1]. The Hebrew term is likely formed from 'liwyâ', meaning 'garland, wreath', combined with the agent noun suffix '-tān', literally meaning 'the tortuous one'[1]. The political state sense was coined by the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes in 1651, while the sense referring to Satan originates from biblical scripture[1].
Open questions
- The derivation of the Biblical Hebrew term from a base meaning garland combined with an agent noun suffix is a matter of possibility rather than absolute certainty. [1]
Full etymology tree
- leviathan (English), 'A vast sea monster of tremendous strength, either imaginary or real, described as the most dangerous and powerful creature in the ocean.'
- inherited leviathan (Middle English)
- borrowed leviathan (Late Latin)
- borrowed לִוְיָתָן (liwyāṯān) (Biblical Hebrew)
- compound לִוְיָה (liwyâ) (Biblical Hebrew)
- suffix ־תָּן (-tān) (Biblical Hebrew)
- borrowed לִוְיָתָן (liwyāṯān) (Biblical Hebrew)
- borrowed leviathan (Late Latin)
- inherited leviathan (Middle English)
Descendants and derived words
- leviathanic (English)
Sources
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris