English
dragon
Dragon comes from Middle English dragoun ‘a dragon, drake, wyrm’, and goes back to Ancient Greek δράκων.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδράκωνdrákōn‘a serpent of huge size’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdracō‘a dragon’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400dragon
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dragoun‘a dragon’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606dragon
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδράκωνdrákōn‘a serpent of huge size’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdracō‘a dragon’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400dragon
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500dragoun‘a dragon’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606dragon
Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “My father compounded with my mother vnder the Dragons…”
The story
From Middle English dragoun, borrowed from Old French dragon, from Latin dracō(n), from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “a serpent of huge size, a python, a dragon”), probably from δέρκομαι (dérkomai, “to see clearly”). Mostly displaced Old English draca (whence modern drake)—from the same Latin source, as are Draco, Dracon, dracone, and dragoon.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *derḱ- ‘to see’
through Ancient Greek δράκων ‘a serpent of huge size, a python, a dragon’
through Latin dracō ‘a dragon’
Today it means
noun In European mythologies, a gigantic beast, typically reptilian with leathery bat-like wings, lion-like claws, scaly skin and a lizard-like body, often a monster with fiery breath.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek δράκων / dragon