[L., Gr., G.]

1. A kind of winged serpent, much celebrated in the romances of the middle ages.

2. A fiery, shooting meteor, or imaginary serpent.

Swift, swift, ye dragons of the night! That dawning may bear the ravens eye.

3. A fierce, violent person, male or female; as, this man or woman is a dragon.

4. A constellation of the northern hemisphere. [See Draco.]

In Scripture, dragon seems sometimes to signify a large marine fish or serpent, Isaiah 27:1. Where the leviathan is also mentioned; also Psalm 74:13.

Sometimes it seems to signify a venomous land serpent. Psalm 91:13. The dragon shalt thou trample under foot.

It is often used for the devil, who is called the old serpent. Revelation 20:2.