ˈdragən, -raig- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English dragun, dragoun, from Old French dragun, dragon, from Latin dracon-, draco serpent, dragon, from Greek drakōn serpent; akin to Old English torht bright, splendid, noble, Old High German zoraht bright, clear, Gothic ga tarhjan to mark, Greek derkesthai to see clearly, look at, drakos eye, Middle Irish derc eye, Sanskrit darśayati he causes to see; basic meaning: seeing
1. archaic : a huge serpent
2. : a fabulous animal generally represented as a monstrous winged and scaly serpent or saurian with a crested head and enormous claws
3.
a. : the heraldic representation of a monster with a griffin's head, a scaly winged body with four legs and claws, and a long barbed tail and tongue borne as a charge or used as a supporter
b. dialect Britain : a paper kite of dragon form
c. : a beneficent supernatural creature in Chinese mythology connected with rain and floods
4. : a violent, combative, or very strict person ; especially : a woman that watches fiercely and vigilantly over the welfare of her charges
jealous and touchy, but a very faithful old dragon with the family — Ngaio Marsh
5. : any of several arums popularly associated with dragons: as
a. : green dragon
b. : jack-in-the-pulpit 1
c. : water arum
d. : a plant of the genus Dracontium
6.
a. : a short musket formerly carried hooked to a soldier's belt ; also : a soldier carrying such a musket
b. : an armored tractor for artillery
7.
[translation of New Latin Draco ]
a. : any of numerous small brilliantly colored arboreal agamid lizards (genus Draco ) of the East Indies and southern Asia having five or six of the hind ribs on each side prolonged and covered with a web of skin forming a sort of wing and aiding them in making long gliding leaps from tree to tree — called also flying dragon
b. : any of certain other lizards of related genera: as
(1) : jew lizard
(2) : water dragon 1