1620s, "cavalry soldier carrying firearms," and thus capable of service either on horseback or on foot, from French dragon, probably so called for the guns they carried, from dragon "carbine, musket," because the guns "breathed fire" like dragons (see dragon). Also see -oon. For the sense evolution, compare musket.

"dragon," c. 1200, from Old English draca "dragon, sea monster, huge serpent," from Proto-Germanic *drako (source also of Middle Dutch and Old Frisian drake, Dutch draak, Old High German trahho, German drache), an early borrowing from Latin draco (see dragon).

northern circumpolar constellation representing a dragon, from Latin draco "huge serpent, dragon," from Greek drakon (see dragon). The star pattern has been identified as such since ancient times.

1759, "of or pertaining to Draco," the ancient Greek statesman; 1777, in reference to laws, "rigorous, extremely severe or harsh" (earlier Draconic, which is implied from 1640s). Draco is the Latinized form of Greek Drakon, name of the archon of Athens who laid down a code of laws for Athens c. 621 B.C.E. that mandated death as punishment for minor crimes. His name seems to mean literally "sharp-sighted" (see dragon).

name of the vampire king in Bram Stoker's novel (1897). It was a surname of Prince Vlad II of Wallachia (d. 1476), and means in Romanian "son of Dracul," literally "the dragon" (see dragon), from the name and emblem taken by Vlad's father, also named Vlad, c. 1431 when he joined the Order of the Dragon, founded 1418 by Sigismund the Glorious of Hungary to defend the Christian religion from the Turks and crush heretics and schismatics.

common name of a neuropterous predatory insect of the group Libellulina, with a long, slender body, large eyes, and two pairs of large, membranous wings, 1620s, from dragon + fly (n.1). An older name for it was adderbolt (late 15c.), for its shape, also devil's darning-needle.

"Welsh warlord" (mainly known now via Arthurian romances as the title of Uther Pendragon), late 15c., title of a chief leader in war of ancient Britain or Wales, who were invested with dictatorial powers in times of great danger, from pen "head" (see pen-) + dragon, which figured on the standard of a cohort.

c. 1300, ranclen, of a sore, wound, etc., "to fester," from Old French rancler, earlier raoncler, draoncler "to suppurate, run," from draoncle "abscess, festering sore," from Medieval Latin dracunculus, literally "little dragon," diminutive of Latin draco "serpent, dragon" (see dragon). According to OED (citing Skeat and also Godefroy's "Dictionnaire De L'ancienne Langue Française"), the notion is of an ulcer caused by a snake's bite. Transitive meaning "cause to fester" is from c. 1400. Figurative use, of feelings, etc., is from 16c. Related: Rankled; rankling.

popular name of a common flowering garden plant, 1570s, from snap (n.) + dragon. So called from fancied resemblance of antirrhinum flowers to a dragon's mouth. As the name of a Christmas game of plucking raisins from burning brandy and eating them alight, from 1704.

Artemisia Dracunculus, Eastern European composite plant of the wormwood genus, native to Russia and temperate Asia, 1530s, from Medieval Latin tragonia, from Byzantine Greek tarchon, from Arabic tarkhon, which is said to be (OED, 1989) from a non-Arabic source, perhaps Greek drakon "serpent, dragon" (via drakontion "dragonwort"); see dragon. From the same source come Spanish taragona, Italian targone, French estragon (with unetymological prefix). Its aromatic leaves long have been used for flavoring (especially vinegar).