Dragon

Dragon - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

(1.) Heb. tannim, plural of tan. The name of some unknown creature inhabiting desert places and ruins (Job 30:29; Ps. 44:19; Isa. 13:22; 34:13; 43:20; Jer. 10:22; Micah 1:8; Mal. 1:3); probably, as translated in the Revised Version, the jackal (q.v.).

(2.) Heb. tannin. Some great sea monster (Jer. 51:34). In Isa. 51:9 it may denote the crocodile. In Gen. 1:21 (Heb. plural tanninim) the Authorized Version renders "whales," and the Revised Version "sea monsters." It is rendered "serpent" in Ex. 7:9. It is used figuratively in Ps. 74:13; Ezek. 29:3.

In the New Testament the word "dragon" is found only in Rev. 12:3, 4, 7, 9, 16, 17, etc., and is there used metaphorically of "Satan." (See [162]WHALE.)

Dragon - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

DRAGON, n. [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, Isa 27. Where the leviathan is also mentioned; also Psa 74.

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

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

DRAGON, n. A genus of animals, the Draco. They have four legs, a cylindrical tail, and membranaceous wings, radiated like the fins of a flying-fish.