dragon
dragon, mythical beast usually represented as a huge, winged, fire-breathing reptile. For centuries the dragon has been prominent in the folklore of many peoples; thus, its physical characteristics vary greatly and include combinations of numerous animals. The dragon has often been associated with evil. In many legends a dragon had the ability to wreak havoc upon a land and therefore had to be either propitiated by a human sacrifice, or killed; it was also often the guardian of a treasure or a maiden. The highest achievement of a hero in medieval legend was the slaying of a dragon, as in the story of St. George. King Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon (dragon's head), also killed a dragon. The giant red dragon of the Apocalypse (Rev. 12) gave rise to the use of the beast as symbolic of Satan in Christian art and literature. In ancient China the dragon was associated with fertility and prosperity. Many of the beliefs connected with the dragon are echoed in
snake worship.
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Dragon
(religion, spiritualism, and occult)The Dragon is one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. It refers to one of the 12 earthly branches, which are used in Chinese astrology, together with the 10 heavenly stems. Such a branch designates one day every 12 days: the days are named according to a sexagesimal (60) cycle, made of 10 series of 12 branches.
A rather distinguished-looking person with an extroverted, brilliant nature, the Dragon is attached to his independence and is shamelessly lucky. Energetic and unpredictable, he likes flattery and may easily become despotic. Wildly enthusiastic, he launches his attack, but he may lose heart if the resistance is stronger than he expected. Generous and true, he totally lacks diplomacy. Perceptive, he often gives good advice. This passionate but perhaps fragile person often proves to be very sentimental—not to say naive—when in love.
—Michele Delemme
The Astrology Book, Second Edition © 2003 Visible Ink Press®. All rights reserved.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Dragon
a fabulous, winged (sometimes multiheaded), fire-breathing serpent in the mythology of many peoples. In China, Korea, Southeast Asia, and Japan, the dragon was considered the deity of water, giving rise to fertility; later it became a symbol of power. In Egypt the dragon personified the powers of darkness, conquered by the sun god Re. In Christian legends, the dragon was the image of an evil spirit. The fabulous monsters of Russian folklore (Serpent Gorynych and others) bear a marked resemblance to dragons.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
What does it mean when you dream about a dragon?
Dragons can have the same meaning as snakes and other serpents. Dragons symbolize very different things in the Western and Eastern traditions. In the West, heroic knights slay evil dragons that guard treasure or helpless damsels, which may symbolize the struggle between the noble and the ignoble elements of the self. In China, dragons are wise spiritual beings associated with the sky and air (Chinese dragons have wings), which indicates a very different set of connotations.
The Dream Encyclopedia, Second Edition © 2009 Visible Ink Press®. All rights reserved.
Dragon
[′drag·ən] McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
dragon
archetypal symbol of Satan and wickedness. [Christian Symbolism: Appleton, 34]
Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
dragon
1. any of various very large lizards, esp the Komodo dragon
2. Christianity a manifestation of Satan or an attendant devil
3. a yacht of the International Dragon Class, 8.88m long (29.2 feet), used in racing
4. any of various North American aroid plants, esp the green dragon
5. chase the dragon Slang to smoke opium or heroin
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
DRAGON
(1)DRAGON
(2)An implementation language used by BTI Computer Systems.
E-mail: Pat Helland <helland@hal.com>.
dragon
(3)[MIT] A program similar to a
daemon, except that it is not
invoked at all, but is instead used by the system to perform
various secondary tasks. A typical example would be an
accounting program, which keeps track of who is logged in,
accumulates load-average statistics, etc. Under ITS, many
terminals displayed a list of people logged in, where they
were, what they were running, etc., along with some random
picture (such as a unicorn, Snoopy or the Enterprise), which
was generated by the "name dragon". Use is rare outside
MIT, under
Unix and most other operating systems this
would be called a "background
demon" or
daemon. The
best-known Unix example of a dragon is
cron. At
SAIL,
they called this sort of thing a "phantom".
This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)
Dragon
(dreams)This large, mystical creature may represent large and mystical forces inside of you. In the Far East it is believed that the dragons are spiritual creatures that navigate through the air and through the sky. In the West, dragons are considered to be dangerous creatures that need to be destroyed. As far as dream symbols go, the dragon may represent the enormous power in your unconscious. It could symbolize repressed unconscious material, including fear. However, the dragon in our dreams is generally a positive symbol. It may represent a period of time when the dreamer will confront his fears and empower himself to effectively cope with negative emotions, extreme materialism, and be able to obtain greater inner and outer freedom.
Bedside Dream Dictionary by Silvana Amar Copyright © 2007 by Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.