dragon

Forms

dragon m (plural dragoni)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French dragon, which comes from Latin dracō (“serpent, dragon”), itself from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “dragon, serpent”).^[2][3][1] DELR explains the ⟨g⟩ by the influence of the Latin word and of other Romance forms such as Occitan dragó and Italian dragone, and MDA2 names the Italian word as a second source; the old variant dragone (1780–1790) is from the Italian word.^[2][4] The Greek noun is probably derived from δέρκομαι (dérkomai, “to look”), aorist ἔδρακον (édrakon), after the fixed, spellbinding gaze of the snake.^[2][5]

The soldier sense goes back to the same French word: the dragoons were named after the dragon on their standard, a sense of the Latin word already in Late Latin.^[2][6] DELR, which treats the soldier as a separate headword, gives several routes for it: Polish dragon, German Dragoner and the French word itself; the old variant dragan is from Polish dragan, while dragun and drahun reflect the Russian and Ukrainian forms.^[2][7][8] DEX gives the French word for the monster and the soldier alike.^[3]

The Latin word also survives in Romanian as the inherited drac “devil”, so the borrowing and the inherited word are doublets.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are of the soldier: Tiktin dates the word to 1675 in Miron Costin's chronicle, in the sense “dragoon”.^[7] Neculce's chronicle (c. 1743) has the variant drăgani for the garrison of Kamianets, and Radu Popescu's chronicle (1718–1729) the plural dragoni for the German horse soldiers there.^[9][2][4] The monster appears later, in 1780–1790, in the variant dragone.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th and 19th centuries the word mostly named a horse soldier equipped to fight on foot as well, in the old armies.^[9][4] This sense is now historical, and survives in regional uses: in Moldavia, in the variants dragan, dragun and drahun, “a strapping man”, and figuratively a big, stiff woman.^[2][10][11]

The French neologism brought the sense “fabulous monster”, which Negulici's dictionary of 1848 defines as a winged beast with claws and a serpent's tail.^[12] Zoology took the name for a tree lizard of the tropics with wing-like folds of skin, and for the weever fish Trachinus draco; astronomy for the northern constellation Draco, popularly called Balaurul.^[2][3][4] MDA2 and DLRLC also record the dragon as a motif of Chinese and other Asian art.^[4][13]

Timeline

• 1675 – dragon “dragoon” in Miron Costin's chronicle, the first record.^[7]
• 1718–1729 – dragoni in Radu Popescu's chronicle.^[2]
• c. 1743 – drăgani in Neculce's chronicle.^[4][9]
• 1774 – căpitanul de drăgani “the captain of dragoons” in a document of the Uricariul.^[9]
• 1780–1790 – the monster, in the variant dragone.^[2]
• 1848 – Negulici defines the fabulous monster.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dragon: a fabulous monster with a lion's claws, an eagle's wings and a long serpent's tail, often breathing fire.^[3][4][1]
2. A tree-dwelling lizard of tropical regions with wing-like folds of skin along its body (Draco volans).^[3][4]
3. (heraldry) A figure with a human face whose beard is made of coiled snakes.^[3]
4. (astronomy) The northern constellation Draco, popularly Balaurul.^[3][1]
5. (historical) A dragoon: a cavalryman who fought both on horseback and on foot.^[3][9]

Word family

• dragonadă

Related words

• drac
• Latin dracō

Usage notes

DEX lists a separate dragon¹ (plural dragoane), a neuter noun for the sword knot or cord fixed to the hilt of a sabre or dagger; it is from French dragonne and is first recorded in 1874.^[3][4][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. dragon
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 330
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 752
5. ^ Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 97
7. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. dragon
8. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 445
9. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. dragon
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 219
11. ^ Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. dragon
12. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. 147
13. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 162