A leviathan is something enormous and powerful, often overwhelmingly so. The word comes from an ancient sea monster described in the Bible as a terrifying creature of the deep ocean, so massive and fearsome that only God could control it.

Today, people use leviathan to describe anything gigantic and formidable. A huge corporation that dominates an entire industry might be called a corporate leviathan. When you see a massive cruise ship in a harbor, dwarfing everything around it, you're looking at a leviathan of the seas. A government with vast powers and reach could be described as a leviathan of bureaucracy.

The word carries a sense of awe mixed with a little fear or wariness. A leviathan possesses power so great it can seem unstoppable or beyond normal human scale. Think of the difference between a large building and a skyscraper that makes you crane your neck back and wonder how anyone built something so immense. That feeling captures what leviathan means: something whose sheer size and power makes it almost unimaginable.