Etymology

Noun

1. A mythical, serpentine or reptilian creature.
   1. (Western) A gigantic beast, typically reptilian with leathery bat-like wings, lion-like claws, scaly skin and a serpent-like tail, often a monster with fiery breath.
      • c.1900 — Edith Nesbit, The Last of the Dragons

        But as every well-brought-up prince was expected to kill a dragon, and rescue a princess, the dragons grew fewer and fewer till it was often quite hard for a princess to find a dragon to be rescued from.

   2. (Eastern) A large, snake-like lizard with the eyes of a hare, the horns of a stag and the claws of a tiger, usually benefic
      • 1913 — Sax Rohmer, The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu, ch XIII

        These tapestries were magnificently figured with golden dragons; and as the serpentine bodies gleamed and shimmered in the increasing radiance, each dragon, I thought, intertwined its glittering coils more closely with those of another.

2. Certain animal species which resemble a dragon in appearance:
   1. A very large snake; a python.
   2. A lizard of the genus Draco.
   3. The Komodo dragon.
3. The constellation Draco.
   • 1605 — William Shakespeare, King Lear, i 2

     My father compounded with my mother vnder the Dragons taile, and my nativity was vnder Vrsa Maior.

4. An unpleasant woman; a harridan.

   She’s a bit of a dragon.

5. (absolute use, often capitalized: "the Dragon") The nickname for the Chinese empire and People's Republic of China

   Napoleon already warned for the awakening of the Dragon.

6. (figuratively) Something very formidable or dangerous.

Synonyms

• (legendary creature): drake, monster, serpent, wyrm, wyvern, lindworm
• (unpleasant woman): battle-axe, bitch, harridan, shrew, termagant, virago

See also

• basilisk
• serpent
• wyvern
• wurm
• Saint George
• Saint Patrick