King James Bible Dictionary

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

2. Heb. tannin. Some great sea monster (Jeremiah 51:34). In Isaiah 51:9 it may denote the crocodile. In Genesis 1:21 (Heb. plural tanninim) the Authorized Version renders "whales," and the Revised Version "sea monsters." It is rendered "serpent" in Exodus 7:9. It is used figuratively in Psalms 74:13; Ezekiel 29:3.

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

A poisonous serpent
Deuteronomy 32:33

A serpent of the desert
Psalms 91:13; Isaiah 34:13; Jeremiah 9:11; Jeremiah 51:37; Malachi 1:3

A serpent of the sea
Psalms 74:13; Isaiah 27:1

A wolf
Micah 1:8

Interpreted as a whale, in
Genesis 1:21; Job 7:12

Serpent
Exodus 7:9

A term applied to Pharaoh
Isaiah 51:9

A term applied to Satan
Revelation 20:2

Symbolic
Ezekiel 29:3; Ezekiel 32:2; Ezekiel 66:12; Revelation 16:13

The translators of the Authorized Version, apparently following the Vulgate, have rendered by the same word "dragon" the two Hebrew words tan and tannin , which appear to be quite distinct in meaning.

1. The former is used, always in the plural, in (Job 30:29; Psalms 44:19; Isaiah 34:13; 43:20; Jeremiah 9:11) It is always applied to some creatures inhabiting the desert, and we should conclude from this that it refers rather to some wild beast than to a serpent. The syriac renders it by a word which, according to Pococke, means a "jackal."
2. The word tannin seems to refer to any great monster, whether of the land or the sea, being indeed more usually applied to some kind of serpent or reptile, but not exclusively restricted to that sense. (Exodus 7:9,10,12; 32:33; Psalms 91:13) In the New Testament it is found only in the Apocalypse, (Revelation 12:3,4,7,9,16,17) etc., as applied metaphorically to "the old serpent, called the devil, and Satan."

DRAGON, noun [Latin , 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 Psalms 74:13.

Sometimes it seems to signify a venomous land serpent. Psalms 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.

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

(Nehemiah 2:13), supposed by some to be identical with the Pool of Gihon.

DRAGONET, noun

1. A little dragon.

2. A fish with a slender round body, colored with yellow, blue and white; the head is large and depressed at the top and has two orifices, through which it breathes and ejects water, like the cetaceous tribe.

DRAGON-FISH, noun A species of Trachinus, called the weaver. This fish is about twelve inches in length; it has two or three longitudinal lines of a dirty yellow on the sides, and the belly of a silvery hue. The wounds of its spines occasion inflammation. It buries itself int he sand, except its nose.

DRAGON-FLY, noun A genus of insects, the Libella or Libellula, having four extended wings; they are furnished with jaws; the antennae are shorter than the thorax; and the tail of the male is terminated by a kind of hooked forceps. There are many species, with a great diversity of colors.

DRAGONISH, adjective In the form of a dragon; dragonlike.

DRAGONLIKE, adjective Like a dragon; fiery; furious.

DRAGONS, noun A genus of plants, the Dracontium, of several species, natives of the Indies.

DRAGONS-BLOOD, noun A resinous substance, or red juice, extracted from the Dracaena draco, and other trees of a similar nature. It comes from the East Indies, in small flat cakes or round balls, or in oval drops, wrapped in leaves, and knotted like a chaplet. It has no sensible smell or taste. It has been considered as an astringent medicine, but is now little used for medicinal purposes. A solution of it in spirit of wine is used for staining marble, to which it gives a red tinge.

DRAGONS-HEAD, noun A genus of plants, the Dracocephalum, of many species, most of them herbaceous, annual or perennial plants.

Dragons Head and Tail, in astronomy, are the nodes of the planets, or the two points in which the orbits of the planets intersect the ecliptic.

DRAGON-SHELL, noun A species of concamerated patella or limpet. The top is much curved, and of an ash-color on the outside, but internally, of a bright flesh color. It is found adhering to larger shells, or to the back of the tortoise, as common limpets do to the sides of rocks.

DRAGONS-WATER, noun A plant , the Calla or African Arum.

DRAGONS-WORT, noun A plant, a species of Artemisia.

DRAGON-TREE, noun A species of palm.