Adjacent Words

Dragon definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DRAGON, n. [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 Psalms 74.
Sometimes it seems to signify a venomous land serpent. Psalms 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, n. A genus of animals, the Draco. They have four legs, a cylindrical tail, and membranaceous wings, radiated like the fins of a flying-fish.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a creature of Teutonic mythology; usually represented as breathing fire and having a reptilian body and sometimes wings [syn: dragon, firedrake]
2: a fiercely vigilant and unpleasant woman [syn: dragon, tartar]
3: a faint constellation twisting around the north celestial pole and lying between Ursa Major and Cepheus [syn: Draco, Dragon]
4: any of several small tropical Asian lizards capable of gliding by spreading winglike membranes on each side of the body [syn: dragon, flying dragon, flying lizard]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French dragun, from Latin dracon-, draco serpent, dragon, from Greek drak?n serpent; akin to Old English torht bright, Greek derkesthai to see, look at Date: 13th century 1. archaic a huge serpent 2. a mythical animal usually represented as a monstrous winged and scaly serpent or saurian with a crested head and enormous claws 3. a violent, combative, or very strict person 4. capitalized Draco 5. something or someone formidable or baneful • dragonish adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a mythical monster like a reptile, usu. with wings and claws and able to breathe out fire. 2 a fierce person, esp. a woman. 3 (in full flying dragon) a lizard, Draco volans, with a long tail and membranous winglike structures. Also called flying lizard. Phrases and idioms: dragon's blood a red gum that exudes from the fruit of some palms and the dragon-tree. dragon's teeth Mil. colloq. obstacles resembling teeth pointed upwards, used esp. against tanks. dragon-tree a tree, Dracaena draco, native to the Canary Isles. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L draco -onis f. Gk drakon serpent

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dragon Drag"on, n. [F. dragon, L. draco, fr. Gr. ?, prob. fr. ?, ?, to look (akin to Skr. dar? 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. Note: 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. (Zo["o]l.) 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. (Zo["o]l.) A variety of carrier pigeon. 8. (Her.) A fabulous winged creature, sometimes borne as a charge in a coat of arms. Note: 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 Aris[ae]ma, a genus of plants having a spathe and spadix. See Dragon root(below). Dragon fish (Zo["o]l.), the dragonet. Dragon fly (Zo["o]l.), any insect of the family Libellulid[ae]. They have finely formed, large and strongly reticulated wings, a large head with enormous eyes, and a long body; -- called also mosquito hawks. Their larv[ae] are aquatic and insectivorous. Dragon root (Bot.), an American aroid plant (Aris[ae]ma Dracontium); green dragon. Dragon's blood, a resinous substance obtained from the fruit of several species of Calamus, esp. from C. Rotang and C. Draco, growing in the East Indies. A substance known as dragon's blood is obtained by exudation from Drac[ae]na 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 Gr[ae]corum. 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 ?. 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 (Zo["o]l.), 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 ?. See Dragon's head (above). Dragon's wort (Bot.), a plant of the genus Artemisia (A. dracunculus). Dragon tree (Bot.), a West African liliaceous tree (Drac[ae]na Draco), yielding one of the resins called dragon's blood. See Drac[ae]na. 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dragons) In stories and legends, a dragon is an animal like a big lizard. It has wings and claws, and breathes out fire. N-COUNT

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(1.) Heb. tannim, plural of tan. The name of some unknown creature inhabiting desert places and ruins (Job 30:29; Ps. 44:19; Isa. 13:22; 34:13; 43:20; Jer. 10:22; Micah 1:8; Mal. 1:3); probably, as translated in the Revised Version, the jackal (q.v.).

(2.) Heb. tannin. Some great sea monster (Jer. 51:34). In Isa. 51:9 it may denote the crocodile. In Gen. 1:21 (Heb. plural tanninim) the Authorized Version renders "whales," and the Revised Version "sea monsters." It is rendered "serpent" in Ex. 7:9. It is used figuratively in Ps. 74:13; Ezek. 29:3.

In the New Testament the word "dragon" is found only in Rev. 12:3, 4, 7, 9, 16, 17, etc., and is there used metaphorically of "Satan." (See WHALE.)

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

drag'-un (tannin, plural tannim, tannoth; drakon):

Tannin and the plural tanninim occur 14 times, and in English Versions of the Bible are variously rendered "dragon," "whale," "serpent" or "sea-monster"; but La 4:3, the King James Version "sea-monster," the King James Version margin"sea calves," the Revised Version (British and American) "jackals." Tannim occurs 12 times, and is rendered "dragons," the Revised Version (British and American) "jackals," except in Eze 29:3, where the King James Version has "dragon" (the American Standard Revised Version "monster"), and in Eze 32:2, where the King James Version has "whale" and the English Revised Version and the King James Version margin"dragon" (the American Standard Revised Version "monster"). Tannoth occurs once, in Mal 1:3, where it is rendered "dragons," the Revised Version (British and American) "jackals." Drakon occurs 12 times in Re 12; 13; 16; and 20, where it is uniformly rendered "dragon." (Compare Arabic tinnin, the constellation, Draco.) Tannoth (Septuagint domata, "dwellings") is a feminine plural form as if from tannah, but it suits the context to give it the same meaning as tannim.

In Ex 7:9,10,12, tannin is used of the serpents which were produced from Aaron's rod and the rods of the Egyptian magicians, whereas in Ex 4:3 and 7:15, for the serpent produced from Aaron's rod, we find nachash, the ordinary word for serpent. In two passages we find "whale," the Revised Version (British and American) "sea-monster"; Ge 1:21: "And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that moveth"; Job 7:12: "Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, that thou settest a watch over me?" Other passages (the English Revised Version and the King James Version) are De 32:33: "Their wine is the poison of dragons (the American Standard Revised Version "serpents"), and the cruel venom of asps"; Ne 2:13: "And I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the dragon's (the American Standard Revised Version "jackal's") well" (the King James Version "dragon well"); Ps 91:13: "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the serpent (the King James Version "dragon") shalt thou trample under foot "; Ps 148:7: "Praise Yahweh from the earth, ye sea-monsters (the King James Version "dragons"), and all deeps"; Jer 51:34: "Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, .... like a monster" (the King James Version "dragon"). Here also two tannim passages; Eze 29:3: "Thus saith the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster (the King James Version "dragon") that lieth in the midst of his rivers, that hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself"; and Eze 32:2: "Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou wast likened unto a young lion of the nations: yet art thou as a monster (the English Revised Version "dragon," the King James Version "whale") in the seas; and thou didst break forth with thy rivers and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers." The foregoing passages offer no especial difficulties in the interpretation of the word tannin. All may fairly be understood to refer to a serpent or sea-monster or some imaginary creature, without invoking any ancient myths for their elucidation. The same may be said of the passages in Revelation. A dragon is taken as the personification of Satan, as of Pharaoh in the passages in Ezekiel. It is of course true that ancient myths may more or less distantly underlie some of these dragon and serpent references, and such myths may be demonstrated to throw additional light in certain cases, but at least the passages in question are intelligible without recourse to the myths. This however is not equally true of all the tannin passages. In Ps 74:12 we read: "Yet God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the sea-monsters (the King James Version "dragons") in the waters." Compare Isa 27:1; 51:9 f.

The three passages just cited seem to denote each some particular act, and are referred by Canon Cheyne (Encyclopedia Biblica, under the word "Dragon") to the old Babylonian myth of the conflict of Marduk and Tiamat in the Assyrian creation- legend (thus Gunkel, etc.). Indeed he refers to that myth not only these passages, but also Jer 5:24; Eze 29:3-6; 32:2-8 and Job 7:12, which have been cited above. In translating the last two passages, Canon Cheyne uses the definite article, "the dragon," instead of "a" as in the Revised Version (British and American), which makes a great difference in the meaning. In Ps 87:4, it is clear that Rahab is a country, i.e. Egypt. Isa 30:7 is to the same point. In Isa 51:9,10, "that didst cut Rahab in pieces" and "that didst pierce the monster" (the King James Version "dragon"), are two coordinate expressions of one idea, which is apparently the defeat of the Egyptians, as appears in the reference to the passage of the Red Sea. In Isa 27:1, "leviathan the swift serpent" and "leviathan the crooked serpent" and "the monster (the King James Version and the English Revised Version "dragon") that is in the sea" have been identified with Babylon, Persia and Egypt (Encyclopedia Biblica, under the word "Dragon," 4). It is more probable that the first two expressions are coordinate, and amount to "leviathan the swift and crooked serpent," and that the verse may therefore refer to Babylonia and Egypt. Ps 74:12-15 is more in line with the idea of the article in EB, but it is nevertheless susceptible of an explanation similar to that of the other two passages.

Tannim, "dragons" (the Revised Version (British and American) "jackals") occurs in Job 30:29; Ps 44:19; Isa 13:22; 34:13; 35:7; 43:20; Jer 9:11; 10:22; 14:6; 49:33; 51:37; tannoth, "dragons" (the Revised Version (British and American) "jackals") is found in Mal 1:3. In all these passages, "jackal" suits the context better than "dragon," "sea-monster" or "serpent." An exception to the rendering of "dragon" or "serpent" or "sea-monster" for tannin is found in La 4:3: "Even the jackals draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones." the King James Version has "seamonster," the King James Version margin"sea calves." A mammal is indicated, and the Revised Version (British and American) apparently assumes that tannin is an error for tannim. Two other exceptions are in Eze 29:3 and Eze 32:2, where English Versions of the Bible renders tannim by "dragon," since in these two passages "jackal" obviously will not suit. See JACKAL.

On the constellational dragons or snakes, see ASTRONOMY, sec. II, 1-5.

Alfred Ely Day

Moby Thesaurus

Argus, Briareus, Cerberus, Charybdis, Cyclops, Echidna, Gila monster, Gorgon, Harpy, Hydra, Loch Ness monster, Mafioso, Medusa, Minotaur, Pegasus, Python, Scylla, Sphinx, Talos, Tartar, Typhon, Young Turk, agama, alligator, anole, bear, bearded lizard, beast, beldam, berserk, berserker, blindworm, bomber, box turtle, brute, butterfly agama, cayman, centaur, chameleon, chimera, cockatrice, crank, crocodile, crosspatch, demon, devil, diamondback, drake, false map turtle, feist, fiend, fire-eater, firebrand, flying dragon, fury, gavial, gecko, girdle-tailed lizard, glass snake, goon, gorilla, green turtle, griffin, grizzly bear, grouch, gunsel, hardnose, hawksbill, hawksbill turtle, hell-raiser, hellcat, hellhound, hellion, hippocampus, holy terror, hood, hoodlum, hothead, hotspur, iguana, incendiary, killer, leatherback, lizard, mad dog, madcap, matamata, mermaid, merman, monitor, monster, mugger, nixie, ogre, ogress, rapist, revolutionary, roc, salamander, satyr, savage, sea horse, sea serpent, sea turtle, she-wolf, siren, soft-shelled turtle, sorehead, spitfire, stump tail, teju, termagant, terrapin, terror, terrorist, tiger, tigress, tortoise, tough, tough guy, troll, tuatara, turtle, ugly customer, unicorn, vampire, violent, virago, vixen, werewolf, wild beast, windigo, witch, wolf, xiphopagus, zombie