Compound of לִוְיָה (livyá, “garland, wreath”) -תָּן (-tan, agentive suffix), meaning “the tortuous one”.
Tannin (Hebrew: תַּנִּין tannīn; Syriac: ܬܢܝܢܐ tannīnā plural: tannīnē; Arabic: tinnīn, ultimately from Akkadian 𒆗𒉌𒈾 dannina) or Tunnanu (Ugaritic: 𐎚𐎐𐎐 tnn, likely vocalized tunnanu[1]) was a sea monster in Canaanite and Hebrew mythology used as a symbol of chaos and evil.[2]
Tannin appears in the Baal Cycle as one of the servants of Yam (lit. 'Sea') defeated by Baʿal (lit. 'Lord')[3] or bound by his sister, Anat.[4] He is usually depicted as serpentine, possibly with a double tail.[4]
The tanninim (תַּנִּינִים) also appear in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis,[5] Exodus,[6] Deuteronomy,[7] Psalms,[9] Job,[10] Ezekiel,[11] Isaiah,[12] and Jeremiah.[13] They are explicitly listed among the creatures created by God on the fifth day of the Genesis creation narrative,[5] translated in the King James Version as "great whales".[14] The tannin is listed in the apocalypse of Isaiah as among the sea beasts to be slain by Yahweh "on that day",[15] translated in the King James Version as "the dragon".[16][n 1]
In Judaism, Tannin is sometimes conflated with the related sea monsters Leviathan and Rahab by Christians.[19] Along with Rahab, "Tannin" was a name applied to ancient Egypt after the Exodus to Canaan.[2]
The word Tannin is used in the Hebrew Bible fourteen times. Aaron's staff becomes Tannin in the Book of Exodus (Exodus 7:9-12), it is used in the meaning "snake" in the Book of Deuteronomy (Deut 32:33) and Psalms (Psalm 91:13). It represents Nebuchadnezzar II (the king of Babylon) in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 51:34) and Pharaoh in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 29:3, 32:2). In the Book of Job (Job 7:12) the protagonist questions God "Am I the sea or the sea dragon that you have set a guard over me?"[20]
The name has subsequently been given to three submarines in the Israeli Navy: the first, an S-class submarine formerly known as HMS Springer, was in commission from 1958 until 1972. The second, a Gal-class submarine, was in commission from 1977 until 2002. The third INS Tanin is a Dolphin-class submarine in commission since 2014.
Modern Hebrew
In modern Hebrew usage the word tanin (תנין) means crocodile.[21]
Tanin'iver (compd. of Heb. תַנִין, "dragon" עִוֵר, "sightless" — the "blind dragon") is an evil cosmic entity expounded in the kabbalistic teachings of Moses Cordovero and subsequent writings based on his system. He is the steed of Lilith, so he is considered a mechanism by which evil is activated. Though Tanin'iver is castrated (echoing a fable about the Yetzer ha-Ra), he is still the catalyst for the coupling of Lilith with Samael, a union that brings pestilence into the world.[1
"Dragon." With only a few vague references in the Bible, this term is open to various interpretations, the most mundane being the crocodile. More imaginative readers understand it to refer to a monstrous serpent or dragon. Dragons dwell in water and are a menace to navigation.1 At times the word becomes synonymous with the Leviathan. Daniel is credited with battling a dragon and killing it by filling its mouth with pitch.
In the Apocalyptic literature there is a dragon of monstrous dimensions in Sheol that feeds on the souls of the wicked.2Demons will take the form of dragons.3 In the Kabbalah, a cosmic blind dragon, Tanin'iver, serves as the steed of Lilith.4
Tannin is also a designation for Egypt.5
"Dragon." With only a few vague references in the Bible, this term is open to various interpretations, the most mundane being the crocodile. More imaginative readers understand it to refer to a monstrous serpent or dragon. Dragons dwell in water and are a menace to navigation.1 At times the word becomes synonymous with the Leviathan. Daniel is credited with battling a dragon and killing it by filling its mouth with pitch.
In the Apocalyptic literature there is a dragon of monstrous dimensions in Sheol that feeds on the souls of the wicked.2Demons will take the form of dragons.3 In the Kabbalah, a cosmic blind dragon, Tanin'iver, serves as the steed of Lilith.4
Tannin is also a designation for Egypt.5
compare with Quetzocoatl & the Quinotaur
The Quinotaur (Latin: Quinotaurus) is a mythical sea creature mentioned in the 7th century Frankish Chronicle of Fredegar. Referred to as "the beast of Neptune which resembles a Quinotaur",[1] it was held to have fathered Meroveus by attacking the wife of the Frankish king Chlodio and thus to have sired the line of Merovingian kings.
https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/merovingians-descended-quinotaur-007465