לווייתן

Hebrew

Etymology

Perhaps a compound of לִוְיָה (livyá, garland, wreath) +‎ ־תָּן (-tan, agentive suffix), meaning “the tortuous one”; in any case likely related to the root Hebrew לוה (wind, turn, twist). Likely also related to Ugaritic 𐎍𐎚𐎐 (ltn).

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)

Noun

לווייתן / לִוְיָתָן • (livyatánm (plural indefinite לווייתנים / לִוְיָתָנִים)

  1. whale
  2. (biblical, mythology) leviathan
  3. (colloquial) "big fish" (senior gangster)

Descendants

  • Translingual: Livyatan

References

Further reading