Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

dragon

drag′on

(drăg′ŭn)
,
Noun.
[F.
dragon
, L.
draco
, fr. Gr.
δράκων
, prob. fr.
δέρκεσθαι
,
δράκειν
, to look (akin to Skr.
darç
to see), and so called from its terrible eyes. Cf.
Drake
a dragon,
Dragoon
.]
1.
(Myth.)
A fabulous animal, generally represented as a monstrous winged serpent or lizard, with a crested head and enormous claws, and regarded as very powerful and ferocious.
The
dragons
which appear in early paintings and sculptures are invariably representations of a winged crocodile.
Fairholt.
☞ In Scripture the term dragon refers to any great monster, whether of the land or sea, usually to some kind of serpent or reptile, sometimes to land serpents of a powerful and deadly kind. It is also applied metaphorically to Satan.
Thou breakest the heads of the
dragons
in the waters.
Ps. lxxiv. 13.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the
dragon
shalt thou trample under feet.
Ps. xci. 13.
He laid hold on the
dragon
, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.
Rev. xx. 2.
2.
A fierce, violent person, esp. a woman.
Johnson.
3.
(Astron.)
A constellation of the northern hemisphere figured as a dragon; Draco.
4.
A luminous exhalation from marshy grounds, seeming to move through the air as a winged serpent.
5.
(Mil. Antiq.)
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.
Fairholt.
6.
(Zool.)
A small arboreal lizard of the genus Draco, of several species, found in the East Indies and Southern Asia. Five or six of the hind ribs, on each side, are prolonged and covered with weblike skin, forming a sort of wing. These prolongations aid them in making long leaps from tree to tree. Called also
flying lizard
.
7.
(Zool.)
A variety of carrier pigeon.
8.
(Her.)
A fabulous winged creature, sometimes borne as a charge in a coat of arms.
☞ Dragon is often used adjectively, or in combination, in the sense of relating to, resembling, or characteristic of, a dragon.
Dragon arum
(Bot.)
,
the name of several species of
Arisæma
, a genus of plants having a spathe and spadix. See
Dragon root
(below).
–
Dragon fish
(Zool.)
,
the dragonet.
–
Dragon fly
(Zool.)
,
any insect of the family
Libellulidæ
. They have finely formed, large and strongly reticulated wings, a large head with enormous eyes, and a long body; – called also
mosquito hawks
. Their larvæ are aquatic and insectivorous.
–
Dragon root
(Bot.)
,
an American aroid plant (
Arisæma Dracontium
); green dragon.
–
Dragon's blood
,
a resinous substance obtained from the fruit of several species of
Calamus
, esp. from
Calamus Rotang
and
Calamus Draco
, growing in the East Indies. A substance known as dragon's blood is obtained by exudation from
Dracæna Draco
; also from
Pterocarpus Draco
, a tree of the West Indies and South America. The color is red, or a dark brownish red, and it is used chiefly for coloring varnishes, marbles, etc. Called also
Cinnabar Græcorum
.
–
Dragon's head
.
(a)
(Bot.)
A plant of several species of the genus
Dracocephalum
. They are perennial herbs closely allied to the common catnip.
(b)
(Astron.)
The ascending node of a planet, indicated, chiefly in almanacs, by the symbol [GREEK]. The deviation from the ecliptic made by a planet in passing from one node to the other seems, according to the fancy of some, to make a figure like that of a dragon, whose belly is where there is the greatest latitude; the intersections representing the head and tail; – from which resemblance the denomination arises.
Encyc. Brit.
–
Dragon shell
(Zool.)
,
a species of limpet.
–
Dragon's skin
,
fossil stems whose leaf scars somewhat resemble the scales of reptiles; – a name used by miners and quarrymen.
Stormonth.
–
Dragon's tail
(Astron.)
,
the descending node of a planet, indicated by the symbol [GREEK]. See
Dragon's head
(above).
–
Dragon's wort
(Bot.)
,
a plant of the genus
Artemisia
(
Artemisia dracunculus
).
–
Dragon tree
(Bot.)
,
a West African liliaceous tree (
Dracæna Draco
), yielding one of the resins called dragon's blood. See
Dracæna
.
–
Dragon water
,
a medicinal remedy very popular in the earlier half of the 17th century.
“Dragon water may do good upon him.”
Randolph (1640).
–
Flying dragon
,
a large meteoric fireball; a bolide.

Webster 1828 Edition

Dragon

DRAGON

,
Noun.
[L., Gr., G.]
1.
A kind of winged serpent, much celebrated in the romances of the middle ages.
2.
A fiery, shooting meteor, or imaginary serpent.
Swift, swift, ye dragons of the night! That dawning may bear the ravens eye.
3.
A fierce, violent person, male or female; as, this man or woman is a dragon.
4.
A constellation of the northern hemisphere. [See Draco.]
In Scripture, dragon seems sometimes to signify a large marine fish or serpent, Isaiah 27. Where the leviathan is also mentioned; also Psalm 74.
Sometimes it seems to signify a venomous land serpent. Psalm 91. The dragon shalt thou trample under foot.
It is often used for the devil, who is called the old serpent. Revelations 20:2.

DRAGON

,
Noun.
A genus of animals, the Draco. They have four legs, a cylindrical tail, and membranaceous wings, radiated like the fins of a flying-fish.

Definition 2024

Dragon

Dragon

See also: dragon, dragón, and drag on

English

Proper noun

Dragon

  1. The fifth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.
  2. the Devil. [1]

References

  1. ↑ Revelation 12:9; Revelation 20:2

French

Proper noun

Dragon m

  1. (astronomy) Draco (a constellation)

Anagrams

dragon

dragon

See also: Dragon, dragón, and drag on

English

Noun

dragon ‎(plural dragons)

  1. A legendary serpentine or reptilian creature.
    1. In Western mythology, 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.
      • c. 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. In Eastern mythology, 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. 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.

Quotations

  • For usage examples of this term, see Citations:dragon.

Derived terms

Related terms

Synonyms

Translations

See also

Danish

Noun

dragon c (singular definite dragonen, plural indefinite dragoner)

  1. a dragoon (soldier of the mounted infantry)

References

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: dra‧gon

Etymology 1

From Middle French dragon, from Arabic طَرْخْوْن ‎(ṭarḵwn), from Ancient Greek δρακόντιον ‎(drakóntion), although not all etymologists agree it must have been borrowed via Arabic.

Noun

dragon m ‎(uncountable)

  1. The edible Mediterranean herb Artemisia dracunculus (tarragon), used as a salad spice
  2. The plant Erysimum cheiranthoides
Synonyms
  • (Erysium cheiranthoides):) steenraket

Etymology 2

Borrowing from French dragon.

Noun

dragon m ‎(plural dragons, diminutive dragonnetje n)

  1. A (French) dragoon
Synonyms

French

Etymology

From Old French dragon, from Latin dracō, from Ancient Greek δράκων ‎(drákōn)

Pronunciation

Noun

dragon m ‎(plural dragons, feminine dragonne)

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

Derived terms

Anagrams

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowing from Old French dragon, from Latin dracō, from Ancient Greek δράκων ‎(drákōn).

Noun

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.

Norman

Etymology

From Old French dragon, from Latin dracō, from Ancient Greek δράκων ‎(drákōn).

Pronunciation

Noun

dragon m ‎(plural dragons)

  1. (Jersey) dragon
  2. (Jersey, nautical) flying jib

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

dragon m ‎(definite singular dragonen, indefinite plural dragoner, definite plural dragonene)

  1. a dragoon (soldier of the mounted infantry)

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

dragon m ‎(definite singular dragonen, indefinite plural dragonar, definite plural dragonane)

  1. a dragoon (soldier of the mounted infantry)

References

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin dracō, from Ancient Greek δράκων ‎(drákōn).

Noun

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

  1. dragon (mythical animal)

Old Spanish

Etymology

From Latin dracōnem, accusative of dracō, from Ancient Greek δράκων ‎(drákōn).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [dɾaˈɡõn]

Noun

dragon m (plural dragones)

  1. dragon
    • c. 1250: Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 103r.
      Et eſto faz deſcédiédo ſobrella la uertud de fiǵa de oḿe cubierto duna ſauana. ¬ cauallero ſobre un dragó ¬ teniédo en ſu mano dieſtra una láça.
      And it does this when over it descends the virtue of the figure of a man covered with a sheet, and a knight riding a dragon with a spear in his right hand.
    • Idem, f. 118v.
      Et es de la manera de las piedras ſeelladas. que los antigos gardauan. / Et presta pora echar los dragones. ¬ las ſirpientes. de los lugares.
      And it is akin to the sealed stones that the ancients kept. And it is good for expeling dragons and snakes from any place.

Descendants

Old Welsh

Noun

dragon m

  1. commander, war leader

Related terms

Swedish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /draˈɡuːn/

Noun

dragon c

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

Declension

Inflection of dragon 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative dragon dragonen dragoner dragonerna
Genitive dragons dragonens dragoners dragonernas

Related terms

  • dragonregemente
  • dragonättika
  • dragonört

References

Etymology

Borrowing from Old French dragon, from Latin dracō, from Ancient Greek δράκων ‎(drákōn, “a serpent of huge size, a python, a dragon”), probably from δρακεῖν ‎(drakeîn), aorist active infinitive of δέρκομαι ‎(dérkomai, “I see clearly”).

Pronunciation

WOTD – 14 May 2007
  • enPR: drăg'ən, IPA(key): /ˈdræɡən/
  • Rhymes: -æɡən

Similar Results