dragon

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See also drag on, and dragón

Contents

English [edit]

Commons
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Etymology [edit]

From Old French dragon, from Latin dracō, from Ancient Greek δράκων (drakōn, “a serpent of huge size, a python, a dragon”), probably from δρακεῖν (drakein), aorist active infinitive of δέρκομαι (derkomai, “I see clearly”).

Pronunciation [edit]

WOTD – 14 May 2007    
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Wikipedia

Noun [edit]

dragon (plural dragons)

  1. A legendary, serpentine or reptilian creature.
    1. (Western) A gigantic beast, typically reptilian with leathery bat-like wings, lion-like claws, scaly skin and a serpent-like body, often a monster with fiery breath.
      • circa 1900, Edith Nesbit, The Last of the Dragons:
        But as every well-brought-up prince was expected to kill a dragon, and rescue a princess, the dragons grew fewer and fewer till it was often quite hard for a princess to find a dragon to be rescued from.
    2. (Eastern) A large, snake-like monster with the eyes of a hare, the horns of a stag and the claws of a tiger, usually beneficent
      • 1913, Sax Rohmer, The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu, chapter XIII:
        These tapestries were magnificently figured with golden dragons; and as the serpentine bodies gleamed and shimmered in the increasing radiance, each dragon, I thought, intertwined its glittering coils more closely with those of another.
  2. (zoology) An animal of various species that resemble a dragon in appearance:
    1. (obsolete) A very large snake; a python.
    2. Any of various agamid lizards of the genera Draco, Physignathus or Pogona.
    3. A Komodo dragon.
  3. (astronomy, with definite article, often capitalized) The constellation Draco.
    • 1605, William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act I, Scene 2:
      My father compounded with my mother vnder the Dragons taile, and my nativity was vnder Vrsa Maior.
  4. (pejorative) An unpleasant woman; a harridan.
    She’s a bit of a dragon.
  5. (with definite article, often capitalized) The (historical) Chinese empire or the People's Republic of China.
    Napoleon already warned of the awakening of the Dragon.
  6. (figuratively) Something very formidable or dangerous.
  7. A luminous exhalation from marshy ground, seeming to move through the air like a winged serpent.
  8. (military, historical) A short musket hooked to a swivel attached to a soldier's belt; so called from a representation of a dragon's head at the muzzle.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Fairholt to this entry?)
  9. A variety of carrier pigeon.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Quotations [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Related terms [edit]

Synonyms [edit]

Translations [edit]

mythical creature
lizard of the genus Draco — see Draco
Komodo dragon — see Komodo dragon
constellation Draco — see Draco
pejorative: unpleasant woman
nickname for the Chinese empire and the People's Republic of China
figuratively: something very formidable or dangerous
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

See also [edit]

Dutch [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Arabic

Noun [edit]

dragon m (uncountable)

  1. The edible Mediterranean herb Artemisia dracunculus, used as a salad spice
  2. The plant Erysimum cheiranthoides
Synonyms [edit]

Etymology 2 [edit]

French (see below)

Noun [edit]

dragon m (plural dragons, diminutive dragonnetje)

  1. A (French) dragoon
Synonyms [edit]

French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Latin draco

Noun [edit]

dragon m (plural dragons; feminine dragonne, plural dragonnes)

  1. A dragon, creature or person
  2. A dragoon

Derived terms [edit]

Related terms

Anagrams [edit]

Jèrriais [edit]

Etymology [edit]

EB1911 - Volume 01 - Page 001 - 1.svg This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this term, please add it to the page as described here.

Noun [edit]

dragon m (plural dragons)

  1. (nautical) flying jib

Middle English [edit]

Alternative forms [edit]

Noun [edit]

dragon

  1. A dragon.
    • 1382 — Wyclif's Bible, Daniel 14:26
      Therfor Daniel took pitch, and talow, and heeris, and sethide togidere; and he made gobetis, and yaf in to the mouth of the dragun; and the dragun was al to-brokun.
    • 1380-1399 — Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, The Parson's Tale
      For God seith thus by Moyses: they shul been wasted with hunger, and the briddes of helle shul devouren hem with bitter deeth, and the galle of the dragon shal been hire drynke, and the venym of the dragon hire morsels.

Old French [edit]

Noun [edit]

dragon m (oblique plural dragons, nominative singular dragons, nominative plural dragon)

  1. dragon (mythical animal)

Old Welsh [edit]

Noun [edit]

dragon

  1. commander, war leader

Related terms [edit]

Swedish [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: /draˈɡuːn/

Noun [edit]

dragon c

  1. a dragoon (soldier of the mounted infantry)
  2. the perennial herb tarragon
  3. leaves of that plant, used as seasoning

Declension [edit]

Declension of dragon
singular plural
Common indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative dragon dragonen dragoner dragonerna
genitive dragons dragonens dragoners dragonernas

Related terms [edit]

References [edit]

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