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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

Vulcanian en · ADJ

Pronunciation

  • /vəlˈkeɪniən/ (General-American)
  • /vʌlˈkeɪnɪən/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Directly from Latin Vulcāniānus or from Latin Vulcānius + -an within English, from Vulcānus + -iānus (“-ian”) or -ius (“-y: forming adjectives”). In reference to a type or stage of volcanic activity, via Italian Vulcaniano, with specific reference to Giuseppe Mercalli's observations of the 1888–90 eruptions of the Aeolian island Vulcano. Equivalent to Vulcan + -ian. Doublet of volcanian. Compare slightly earlier Middle French vulcanien.

Meanings

  1. (Roman, not-comparable) Of, related to, or created by Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalwork, considered equivalent to the Greek Hephaestus and several German and Celtic gods.
    • ...Nor cou'd Vulcanian Flame The Stench abolish; or the Savour tame... 1697, John Dryden translating Vergil as Georgics, Book III, in The Works of Virgil, p. 121
  2. (Roman, alt-of, not-comparable, obsolete, rare) Of, related to, or created by Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalwork, considered equivalent to the Greek Hephaestus and several German and Celtic gods. ▸ Alternative letter-case form of vulcanian, a cuckold.
    alt of vulcanian
    • Yet Muto, like a good Vulcanian, An honest Cuckold, calls the bastard sonne, And brags of that which others for him done. 1598, John Marston, “Certaine Satyres”, in The Metamorphosis of Pigmalions Image..., page 41:
  3. (alt-of, literary, not-comparable, uncommon) Alternative letter-case form of vulcanian, of or related to metalwork, blacksmithing, and metallurgy.
    alt of vulcanian
    • A sabre, when the warrior press'd to part, 1726, Alexander Pope & al., The Odyssey of Homer..., Book XIX
  4. (alt-of, archaic, not-comparable) Alternative letter-case form of vulcanian, volcanic, of or related to volcanoes and volcanism.
    alt of volcanic
    alt of vulcanian
    • Solinus reports it of the Vulcanian Hill in Sicily, that they which offered Sacrifice upon it, never put fire to it, but expected it should be kindled from Heaven. 1642, Ralph Cudworth, A Discourse Concerning the True Notion of the Lords Supper, page 66:
  5. (archaic, historical, not-comparable) Alternative letter-case form of vulcanian, volcanic, of or related to volcanoes and volcanism. ▸ Of or related to former theories attributing the origin of basalt and other crystalline minerals to subterranean fires.
    • In his six lectures on Volcanos, [Faujas] exhausted the subject, and showed us the difference of the several systems, the Vulcanian, the Neptunian, and the Huttonian, which is the Plutonian, and his own opinion. 1803, Stephen Weston, Praise of Paris, page 58:
    • The Vulcanian or Plutonian theory, which ascribes the changes on earth's surface to the agency of fire. 1870, Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, page 939:
  6. (archaic, not-comparable) Alternative letter-case form of vulcanian, volcanic, of or related to volcanoes and volcanism. ▸ Of or related to volcanic eruptions or phases of a volcanic eruption when repeated explosions produce a thick ash cloud.
    • Just as we have the ‘Plinian’ or ‘Vesuvian’ eruptions of Vesuvius accompanied by violent outbursts of ‘ashes’ and welling out of lava, and the incessant, milder ‘Strombolian’ type of eruption, so we may distinguish a ‘Vulcanian’ type. 1892 June 2, Nature, page 118:
  7. (not-comparable) Of or related to the proposed planet Vulcan or a cluster of asteroids at the same location in the Solar System.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
Vulcanean alternative lexicographic

Coordinates

Plinian (stage of volcanic eruption) · Vesuvian (stage of volcanic eruption) · Neptunian (related to former geological theories) · Plutonian (related to former geological theories) · Strombolian (stage of volcanic eruption) · Peléan (stage of volcanic eruption) · Huttonian (related to former geological theories)

Deriveds

Vulcanian Islands

Synonyms

Plutonian (related to former geological theories) · volcanian (related to former geological theories)

Translations (4)

la Vulcānius (related to Vulcan) · it vulcanio (related to Vulcan) · fr vulcanien (related to Vulcan) · es vulcanio (related to Vulcan)