| dragon | n. [ F. dragon, L. draco, fr. Gr. dra`kwn, prob. fr. de`rkesqai, dra`kein, 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. [ 1913 Webster ] The dragons which appear in early paintings and sculptures are invariably representations of a winged crocodile. Fairholt. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ 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. [ 1913 Webster ] Thou breakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Ps. lxxiv. 13. [ 1913 Webster ] Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Ps. xci. 13. [ 1913 Webster ] He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. Rev. xx. 2. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. A fierce, violent person, esp. a woman. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. (Astron.) A constellation of the northern hemisphere figured as a dragon; Draco. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. A luminous exhalation from marshy grounds, seeming to move through the air as a winged serpent. [ 1913 Webster ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ] 7. (Zool.) A variety of carrier pigeon. [ 1913 Webster ] 8. (Her.) A fabulous winged creature, sometimes borne as a charge in a coat of arms. [ 1913 Webster ] ☞ Dragon is often used adjectively, or in combination, in the sense of relating to, resembling, or characteristic of, a dragon. [ 1913 Webster ]
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 &unr_;. 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 &unr_;. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]
|
