draconic
English
Etymology 1
From Latin draco (“dragon”) + -ic.
Adjective
draconic (comparative more draconic, superlative most draconic)
- Relating to or suggestive of dragons.
- 1908, E. Walter Maunder, The Astronomy of the Bible, New York: Mitchell Kennerley, Chapter V, p. 196,
- There are amongst the constellations four great draconic or serpent-like forms.
- 1908, E. Walter Maunder, The Astronomy of the Bible, New York: Mitchell Kennerley, Chapter V, p. 196,
See also
- draconic month
- dragonish
Etymology 2
From the Athenian lawmaker Draco, known for making harsh laws.
Adjective
draconic (comparative more draconic, superlative most draconic)
- (rare, dated, has been replaced by "draconian")[1][2] Very severe or strict; draconian.
- 1818, Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto 3, Stanza 64,
- […] they no land / Doomed to bewail the blasphemy of laws / Making kings' rights divine, by some Draconic clause.
- 1932, Edvard Westermarck, Ethical Relativity, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Chapter VIII, p. 248,
- The sexual instinct can hardly be changed by prescriptions; I doubt whether all laws against homosexual intercourse, even the most draconic, have ever been able to extinguish the peculiar desire of anybody born with homosexual tendencies.
- 1974, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago (1973), translated by Thomas P. Whitney, Harper & Row, Vol. 2, Part III, pp. 9-10,
- In the first months after the October Revolution Lenin was already demanding "the most decisive, draconic measures to tighten up discipline."
- 1818, Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto 3, Stanza 64,
References
- Ngram Viewer
- The Grammarphobia Blog: A serpentine etymology
Anagrams
- Radoncic, accordin', cancroid
Romanian
Etymology
From German drakonisch.
Adjective
draconic m or n (feminine singular draconică, masculine plural draconici, feminine and neuter plural draconice)
- draconian
Declension
Declension of draconic
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
| nominative/ accusative | indefinite | draconic | draconică | draconici | draconice | ||
| definite | draconicul | draconica | draconicii | draconicele | |||
| genitive/ dative | indefinite | draconic | draconice | draconici | draconice | ||
| definite | draconicului | draconicei | draconicilor | draconicelor | |||