Meanings
- mediaeval folkloreA legendary being with a human head, and sometimes also human arms and a torso, and the rest of the body of a snake.
In some European Garden of Eden tales, the woman and the serpent are hybridized into a creature referred to as a draconcopedes.
2009, Peter Metevelis, Japanese Mythology and the Primeval World: A Comparative Symbolic Approach, →ISBN, page 392 more examples
For old acquaintance-sake we have stopped some little time with the dragon, before passing on to the Draconcopedes. This is the serpent with a woman’s head that tempted Eve.
1855 September 22, “Supernatural Zoology”, in Household Words, volume 12, page 188In medieval European folklore the draconcopedes were a species of serpent said to have the body of a snake with the face and breasts of a woman […]
2016, Theresa Bane, “Draconcopedes”, in Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, →ISBN, page 106
Origin
- Medieval Latindracontopedis
- Englishdraconcopedes
From Medieval Latin dracontopedis, draconcopedis, from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “serpent”) + πούς (poús, “foot, leg”).
More words from Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
draconcopedes. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/draconcopedes
“draconcopedes.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/draconcopedes. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “draconcopedes,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/draconcopedes.
Source: draconcopedes on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.