Dictionary

sea dragon en · NOUN

Etymology

From sea + dragon; in the mythic sense, some instances represent a learned calque of Old English sǣdraca, compound of sǣ (“sea”) + draca (“dragon”).

Meanings

1. Various sea animals that are likened to dragons: ▸ Certain fish: ▸ leafy sea dragon (Phycodurus eques)
2. Various sea animals that are likened to dragons: ▸ Certain fish: ▸ weedy sea dragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus)
3. Various sea animals that are likened to dragons: ▸ Certain fish: ▸ ruby sea dragon (Phyllopteryx dewysea)
4. Various sea animals that are likened to dragons: ▸ A blue sea dragon, a sea slug of species Glaucus atlanticus.
5. (UK, dated) An ichthyosaur (dinosaur-age delphine marine reptile)
6. A type of dragon that inhabits oceans.
   • In the Gentleman's Magazine for the year 1749, we have an account of a ſea-dragon which was ſaid to be taken between Orford and Southwould, on the coaſt of Suffolk[.] 1810, Charles Gould, Encyclopædia Britannica, volume XIX, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co., page 68, column 2:
   • These sea giant see the open vast oceans as all theirs for the taking and they will openly engage in wars with sea dragons, leviathans, and under water races. 2011, Joseph Barresi, The Creatures of Arator, volume II, midnightrise, page 210:
   • I may note that there is a bay, not far from this spot, among the Chusan islands, which has long been credited with being the abode of a great sea-dragon, and in passing over which junks take certain superstitious precautions. 1886, Charles Gould, Mythical Monsters, London: W.H. Allen and Co., page 305:
   • There were writhing sea-dragons and monsters slouching on slopes by the cliff, serpents and wild things such as those that often surface at dawn to roam the sail-road and doom the voyage. 1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 47:
   • Rāb(ṇ) gave command to his son, Narātǎk, who, with sea-dragons yoked to his chariot and with bow and arrow in hand, marshalled his officers and forces in urgent haste. 2013, Judith M. Jacob, The Cambodian Version of the Ramayana, London: Routledge, page 10:

Forms