dragon

English

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Dragon

Pronunciation

• enPR: drăg'ən, IPA^(key): /ˈdɹæɡən/, /ˈdɹæɡɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• (Canada, General American), IPA^(key): (see /æ/ raising)

• Audio (CA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æɡən

Etymology 1

From Middle English dragoun, borrowed from Old French dragon, from Latin dracō, dracōnem, from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “a serpent of huge size, a python, a dragon”), probably from δέρκομαι (dérkomai, “I see clearly”).

Displaced native Old English draca a doublet of dragon, so too are Draco and dragoon.

Noun

dragon (plural dragons)

1. A legendary serpentine or reptilian creature.
   1. In European mythologies, 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 Asian mythologies, 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, chapter XIII, in The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu:

        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.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     My father compounded with my mother vnder the Dragons taile, and my nativity was vnder Vrsa Maior.

4. (derogatory) A fierce and unpleasant woman; a harridan.

   She’s a bit of a dragon.

5. (UK, slang, rare, derogatory) An unattractive woman.
6. (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.

7. (figurative) Something very formidable or dangerous.
8. A type of playing-tile (red dragon, green dragon, white dragon) in the game of mahjong.
9. A luminous exhalation from marshy ground, seeming to move through the air like a winged serpent.
10. (military, weaponry, historical) A type of musket with a short, large-calibre barrel with a flared muzzle, often hooked to a swivel attached to a soldier's belt.

    Synonym: dragoon

    • 1886, Charles Gould, Mythical Monsters:

      our dragoons were so denominated because they were armed with dragons, that is, with short muskets, which spouted fire like dragons, and had the head of a dragon wrought upon their muzzle

11. (computing, rare) A background process similar to a daemon.
    • 1995, Harley Hahn, The UNIX Companion, page 420:

      Daemons and Dragons. The print spooler is an example of a DAEMON, a program that executes in the background and provides a service […] Strictly speaking, a dragon is a daemon that is not invoked explicitly but is always there, waiting in the background […]

    • 2018, J. K. Petersen, Fiber Optics Illustrated Dictionary:

      Many of the postmaster functions are actually handled by computer software such as dragons and mailer daemons.

12. A variety of carrier pigeon.

Synonyms

• (legendary creature): drake, wyrm, wyvern, lindworm, derg (furry fandom), dwaggy (online slang, childish)
• (unpleasant woman): dragon lady, see also Thesaurus:shrew

Hypernyms

• (legendary creature): monster, serpent

Hyponyms

• (legendary creature): dragoness, dragonness, dragonette, dragonet, dragonlet, dragonling

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

• 🐉, 🐲
• basilisk
• Saint George
• serpent
• stoor worm/Stoor Worm
• zilant/Zilant

Etymology 2

Derived from drag queen.

Noun

dragon (plural dragons)

1. (slang) A man who does drag or crossdresses, or sometimes by extension a male-to-female transgender person.
   • May 2017 Michael Connelly shares excerpt from The Late Show

     Ballard felt her phone vibrate in her hand and turned away from the nurse. She saw a return text from Mendez. She read his answer out loud to Jenkins. “‘Ramona Ramone, dragon. Real name Ramón Gutierrez. Had him in here a couple weeks back. Priors longer than his pre-op dick.’ Nice way of putting it.” “Considering his own dimensions,” Jenkins said. Drag queens, cross-dressers, and transgenders were all generally referred to as dragons in vice. No distinctions were made. It wasn’t nice but it was accepted.

   • October 2017 Drag Star VIZIN is back with new single Blasting News

     My favorite part was probably the ‘de-dragging.’ Taking the Dragon off (that’s what I call her) is always my favorite. In all honesty, the entire experience was amazing and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Being felt up by Michael Silas wasn’t bad either...

   • December 2017 Miss Lawrence as Miss Bruce, "Climax" Star episode 21

     Yes. Butt shots. Everybody can't afford lipo and fat transfers. Especially dragons. So if they want to pay me top dollar to pump their ass up that's what I'm gonna do, and you've benefited from it.

Further reading

• dragon on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• dragon (firearm) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• dragon (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “dragon”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Dorgan, Gordan, gardon

Danish

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -oːˀn

Etymology 1

Noun

dragon c (singular definite dragonen, plural indefinite dragoner)

1. a dragoon (soldier of the mounted infantry)

Etymology 2

From Medieval Latin dragon, from Arabic طَرْخُون (ṭarḵūn), from Ancient Greek δρακόντιον (drakóntion).

Noun

dragon c (singular definite dragonen, plural indefinite dragoner)

1. (archaic) tarragon

   Synonym: esdragon

References

• “dragon” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /draːˈɣɔn/
• Hyphenation: dra‧gon
• Rhymes: -ɔn

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French dragon, from Arabic طَرْخُون (ṭarḵūn), from Ancient Greek δρακόντιον (drakóntion).

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

Borrowed from French dragon.

Noun

dragon m (plural dragons, diminutive dragonnetje n)

1. A (French) dragoon

Hypernyms

• dragonder

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French dragon, perhaps borrowed from Old Occitan dragon, from Latin dracō, from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn). Doublet of drac.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʁa.ɡɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

dragon m (plural dragons, feminine dragonne)

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

Derived terms

Descendants

Further reading

• “dragon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• gardon
• gronda

Middle English

Noun

dragon

1. Alternative form of dragoun
   • 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.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 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.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Norman

Alternative forms

• dragoun (continental Normandy)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

Noun

dragon m (plural dragons)

1. (Jersey, Guernsey) dragon
2. (Jersey, Guernsey, 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

• “dragon” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

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

1. a dragoon (soldier of the mounted infantry)

References

• “dragon” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Dutch

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

dragon

1. to behave
2. to acquire

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: drāgen
  • Dutch: dragen
  • Limburgish: drage
  • Zealandic: draege

Further reading

• “dragon”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old French

Alternative forms

• dragun (Anglo-Norman)

Etymology

Semi-learned term from Latin dracō, dracōnem, from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn).

Noun

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

1. dragon (mythical animal)

Descendants

• Middle French: dracon
  • French: dragon (see there for further descendants)
• Norman: dragon
• → Middle English: dragoun, dragon, dragoune, dragun
  • English: dragon (see there for further descendants)
  • Scots: draigon
• → Old Irish: dragán
  • Irish: dragan
  • Manx: dragan

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin dracōnem, from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn). Compare Old Spanish dragon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɾaˈɡõ/

Noun

dragon m

1. dragon
   • 13th c., Afonso X, “Cantiga CLXXXIX”, in Cantigas de Santa Maria:

     Esta é como un ome que ya a Santa Maria de Salas achou un dragon na carreira e / mató-o, e el ficou gafo de poçon, e pois sãou-[o] Santa Maria. / Ben pode Santa Maria guarir de toda poçon, / pois madr' é do que trillou o basilisqu' e o dragon.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 13th c., Afonso X, “Cantiga CCXXXVIII”, in Cantigas de Santa Maria:

     Na vila. [E] os gollos ficaron todos enton / ant' aquel que da cada nos foi tirar do dragon; / e o jograr mal-andante cospiu e disse que non / vira gente tan baveca, e muy mal os dostou. / O que viltar quer a Virgen de que Deus carne fillou...

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 13th c., Afonso X, “Cantiga CCLXX”, in Cantigas de Santa Maria:

     Per Adan e per Eva fomos todos caer / en poder do diabo; mais quise-sse doer / de nos quen nos fezera, e vo-sse fazer / nov' Adan que britass' a cabega do dragon. / Todos con alegria cantand' e en bon son...

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• Galician: dragón
• Portuguese: drago, dragão

Old Spanish

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɾaˈɡon/

Noun

dragon m (plural dragones)

1. dragon
   • c. 1250, Alfonso X, Lapidario, f. 103r:

     Et eſto faz deſcẽdiẽdo ſobrella la uertud de fig̃a de om̃e cubierto duna ſauana. ⁊ cauallero ſobre un dragõ ⁊ teniẽdo en ſu mano dieſtra una lãça.

     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 expelling dragons and snakes from any place.

Descendants

• Spanish: drago, dragón (see there for further descendants)

Old Welsh

Noun

dragon m

1. commander, war leader

Quotations

This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

Related terms

• pendragon m

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French dragon, from Latin dracō, dracōnem. Doublet of the inherited drac (“devil”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /draˈɡon/

Noun

dragon m (plural dragoni)

1. a dragon (mythical creature)

   Synonym: balaur

2. a flying lizard species (of the genera Draco, Physignathus or Pogona)
3. (astronomy, often capitalized, with definite articulation) Draco (constellation)
4. (military) a dragoon (horse soldier)

Declension

Related terms

• drac

References

• dragon in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /draˈɡuːn/

• Audio

  (file)

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

Related terms

• dragonregemente
• dragonättika
• dragonört

Descendants

• → Finnish: rakuuna

See also

• bearnaisesås

References

• dragon in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• dragon in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• dragon in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• grodan

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish dragón, from Latin dracōnem, from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “serpent, dragon”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɾaˈɡon/,
• Hyphenation: dra‧gon

Noun

dragón (Baybayin spelling ᜇ᜔ᜇᜄᜓᜈ᜔)

1. (mythology) dragon

   Synonym: naga

2. (figuratively) cruel person

Related terms

Further reading

• “dragon”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018