Etymograph

English

dracunculus

Dracunculus comes from Latin dracunculus ‘diminutive of dracō: a small dragon or serpent’, and goes back to Ancient Greek δράκων.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδράκων1‘serpent, dragon’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdraco2‘dragon’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdracunculus2‘diminutive of dracō: a small dragon or serpent’diminutive of draco
  4. Englishtodaydracunculus2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin draco
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English dracunculus

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδράκωνWiktionary, Latin draco‘serpent, dragon’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdracoWiktionary, English dracunculus‘dragon’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdracunculusWiktionary, English dracunculus‘diminutive of dracō: a small dragon or serpent’diminutive of draco
  4. EnglishtodaydracunculusWiktionary, English dracunculus

Linked words

through Ancient Greek δράκων ‘serpent, dragon’

tarragon, 15 more

through Latin draco ‘dragon’

dragon, drake, draconian, dragoon, 12 more

Today it means

noun A dragonet, a fish of families Callionymidae or Draconettidae.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dracunculus”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin draco. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek δράκων / dracunculus

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