pendragon

pendragon · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*derḱ-“to see”
2. Ancient Greek · derived fromδρᾰ́κων“serpent; dragon”
3. Latin · derived fromdracō“serpent, snake; dragon”
4. Proto-Celtic · derived from*kʷennom“head”
5. Welsh · derived frompendragon“chief war leader”
6. Middle English · inherited fromPendragon
7. English todaypendragon

From Middle English Pendragon, borrowed from Welsh pendragon (“chief war leader”), from pen (“head; chief; principal, supreme”) (ultimately from Proto-Celtic *kʷennom (“head”)) + dragon (“dragon; commander, war leader”) (from Latin dracō (“serpent, snake; dragon”), from Ancient Greek δρᾰ́κων (drắkōn, “serpent; dragon”), possibly from δέρκομαι (dérkomai, “to see, see clearly (in the sense of something staring)”), from Proto-Indo-European *derḱ- (“to see”)). Compare Late Latin īnsulāris dracō (literally “dragon of the island”), used by the monk Saint Gildas (c. 500 – c. 570 AD) in De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain) as an epithet of Maelgwn Gwynedd (died c. 547), the king of Gwynedd.

Pendragon · proper noun, noun²

See pendragon.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 12th c. An epithet of Uther, the father of King Arthur.
• from 19th c. An epithet or surname of King Arthur.