Vulcanian

alternative Vulcanean

1. Romannot comparablehuman sciencesOf, related to, or created by Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalwork, considered equivalent to the Greek Hephaestus and several German and Celtic gods.

   ...Nor cou'd Vulcanian Flame The Stench abolish; or the Savour tame...

   1697, John Dryden translating Vergil as Georgics, Book III, in The Works of Virgil, p. 121

   1. Romannot comparableobsoleterarehuman sciencesAlternative letter-case form of vulcanian, a cuckold.

      Yet Muto, like a good Vulcanian, An honest Cuckold, calls the bastard sonne, And brags of that which others for him done.

      1598, John Marston, “Certaine Satyres”, in The Metamorphosis of Pigmalions Image..., page 41

2. literarynot comparableuncommonAlternative letter-case form of vulcanian, of or related to metalwork, blacksmithing, and metallurgy.

   A sabre, when the warrior press'd to part,

   1726, Alexander Pope & al., The Odyssey of Homer..., Book XIX

3. archaicnot comparablegeographyAlternative letter-case form of vulcanian, volcanic, of or related to volcanoes and volcanism.

   Solinus reports it of the Vulcanian Hill in Sicily, that they which offered Sacrifice upon it, never put fire to it, but expected it should be kindled from Heaven.

   1642, Ralph Cudworth, A Discourse Concerning the True Notion of the Lords Supper, page 66

   1. archaichistoricalnot comparablegeographyOf or related to former theories attributing the origin of basalt and other crystalline minerals to subterranean fires.

      The Vulcanian or Plutonian theory, which ascribes the changes on earth's surface to the agency of fire.

      1870, Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, page 939

      1 more example

      In his six lectures on Volcanos, [Faujas] exhausted the subject, and showed us the difference of the several systems, the Vulcanian, the Neptunian, and the Huttonian, which is the Plutonian, and his own opinion.

      1803, Stephen Weston, Praise of Paris, page 58

      Synonyms: Plutonian, volcanian

   2. archaicnot comparablegeographyOf or related to volcanic eruptions or phases of a volcanic eruption when repeated explosions produce a thick ash cloud.

      Just as we have the ‘Plinian’ or ‘Vesuvian’ eruptions of Vesuvius accompanied by violent outbursts of ‘ashes’ and welling out of lava, and the incessant, milder ‘Strombolian’ type of eruption, so we may distinguish a ‘Vulcanian’ type.

      1892 June 2, Nature, page 118

4. not comparableastronomyOf or related to the proposed planet Vulcan or a cluster of asteroids at the same location in the Solar System.