leviathan

noun

1. (often initial capital letter) Bible. a sea monster.
2. any huge marine animal, as the whale.
3. anything of immense size and power, as a huge, oceangoing ship.
4. (initial capital letter, italics) a philosophical work (1651) by Thomas Hobbes dealing with the political organization of society.

noun

1. Bible a monstrous beast, esp a sea monster
2. any huge or powerful thing

n.late 14c., “sea monster, sea serpent,” also regarded as a form of Satan, from Late Latin leviathan, from Hebrew livyathan “dragon, serpent, huge sea animal,” of unknown origin, perhaps related to liwyah “wreath,” from root l-w-h- “to wind, turn, twist.” Of powerful persons or things from c.1600. Hobbes’s use is from 1651. A sea monster mentioned in the Book of Job, where it is associated with the forces of chaos and evil.