Leviathan

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Dr. Goodword
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Leviathan

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sat Jan 23, 2021 9:43 pm

• leviathan •


Pronunciation: lê-vai-ê-thên • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A huge sea monster mentioned in the Bible (Old Testament). 2. Anything of monstrous size: ship, whale, government out of control. 3. A titan, a person of gigantic, formidable wealth and power.
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Notes: Today's Good Word is known mostly through the title of Thomas Hobbes' famous political treatise, The Leviathan (1660), a term he uses to refer to the state. Hobbes argues in favor of a large government so long as it rests on a social contract among all those it protects. The adjective is leviathanic "huge, monstrous in size and/or power".

In Play: English speakers share a long tradition of referring to large ships as leviathans: "The Titanic was a leviathan that lost its battle with an even more leviathanic iceberg." Today's word is also reserved for the biggest of the big shots: "Les Cheatham thinks he is a leviathan of industry, but he is just a wealthy snake."

Word History: Today's Good Word comes from Hebrew livyathan, an enormous Biblical sea creature. Today it means "whale". This word is based on the verb root *l-w-y "to wind, twist, circle, encircle", akin to Ugaritic *l-t-n "sea monster". It is also related to Arabic liwa "to twist" and 'iiklil "wreath", not to mention Akkadian lamu "to surround, encircle".
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damoge
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Re: Leviathan

Postby damoge » Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:15 pm

...not to mention Akkadian lamu "to surround, encircle".

Why not mention it?
Sorry.
Why do we not say, "...not to omit..." or "...not to forget..." or some such?
Everything works out, one way or another

Audiendus
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Re: Leviathan

Postby Audiendus » Sun Jan 24, 2021 9:57 pm

"Not to mention..." is an example of a rhetorical device called apophasis, whereby one refers to something while claiming not to refer to it.

http://alphadictionary.com/goodword/word/apophasis


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