From Hebrew 'liwyātān' (sea monster) — a biblical chaos creature that Hobbes repurposed as a metaphor for the all-powerful state in 1651.
A very large sea creature; something enormous and powerful, especially an organization or state.
From Hebrew 'liwyātān,' a sea monster mentioned in the Old Testament (Job, Psalms, Isaiah). The word may derive from a root meaning 'to twist, coil.' Thomas Hobbes used it as the title of his 1651 political treatise, making it a metaphor for the all-powerful state
The leviathan had two careers. First, it was a terrifying biblical sea monster — a chaos serpent so powerful only God could defeat it. Then Thomas Hobbes repurposed it in 1651 as a metaphor for the state: an artificial monster created by citizens surrendering their rights for protection. The famous