Etymologically
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draco

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈdra.koː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdraː.ko][1]

Forms

dracō m (genitive dracōnis or dracontis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “serpent, dragon”).[2][1][3] Accius has the Greek stem ⟨dracont-⟩.[2][4] Köbler compares Proto-Indo-European *derḱ- (“to see”).[5] Isidore calls it the greatest of serpents and says the Latin word comes from the Greek accusative ⟨drakonta⟩.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Ennius, whom he dates 204–169 BC.[5] The OLD's earliest citation for a snake is from the Rhetorica ad Herennium.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant a snake, usually a harmless kind, a sacred serpent guarding a treasure, as in Cicero, and a fabulous dragon, also the constellation Draco, as in Virgil and Cicero's verse.[2][7] Dracō marīnus in Pliny was a fish, probably the weever, and Isidore says its spines are venomous.[2][6] Pliny uses it of an old hardened vine stem, and Seneca of a water heater with spiral pipes.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant a dragon, a snake, a demon.[8] It survives in Italian drago and Romanian drac, and English dragon came in the mid-13th century through Old French dragon.[1][9]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius has the word.[5]
  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of a snake.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a guardian serpent and of the constellation.[2][7][5]
  • mid-13th century – English dragon is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A snake; a sacred serpent; a dragon.[2]
  2. The constellation Draco.[2][7]
  3. dracō marīnus, the weever.[2]
  4. An old hardened vine stem.[2]
  5. A water heater with spiral pipes.[2]
  6. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A demon.[8]

Word family

  • draconarius
  • dracōnigenus
  • dracontarium
  • dracunculus
  • dracontēus
  • dracōnigena
  • dracontia
  • dracontium

Usage notes

Dracō is also the name of the Athenian lawgiver Draco, mentioned by Cicero and Gellius, and English draconian goes back to his harsh code of about 621 BC.[4][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com