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(from Hebrew liwjatan, roughly meaning "twisted" or "coiled") was a Biblical multi-headed sea monster, referred to in passing in the Old Testament (Psalms 74:13-14; Job 41; Isaiah 27:1), probably referring to crocodile or whale. The word leviathan has become synonymous with any large monster or creature. 
The Biblical Leviathan is often considered to be a demon [associated] with Satan or the Devil, and held by some to be the same monster as Rahab (Isaiah 51:9). The Biblical references to Leviathan appear to have evolved from a Canaanite legend involving a [confrontation] between Baal and a seven headed sea monster which Baal defeats with the aid of Mot, and they also resemble a Babylonian myth in which the storm god Marduk slays the sea monster Tiamat and creates the earth and sky from the two halves of her corpse.

Leviathan may also be interpreted as the sea itself, with its counterpart, Behemoth, being the land.

Certain Jewish legends consider Leviathan as an [androgynous] dragon that seduced Eve in his male form, and Adam in his female form.

In demonology a Leviathan is every aquatic demon. They are great liars. Leviathans can also possess persons, being very difficult to exorcise; they try to possess every person, but especially women.

The word has been reused (not only in literature) over and again:

in the 1660 book Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes 
in the [Illuminatus] trilogy 
in Moby-Dick as a reference to the whale 
in the [Final Fantasy] games 
in the Farscape [science fiction] series (living spaceship) 
in the 1989 film Leviathan

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In Hebrew, leviathan also means a device for washing raw wool.

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