Vulcan

[ vuhl-kuhn ]

noun
  1. the ancient Roman god of fire and metalworking, identified with the Greek Hephaestus.

  2. Military. a six-barrel, 20 mm U.S. Army antiaircraft gun system mounted on an armored personnel carrier and first deployed in 1968.

  1. Astronomy. a hypothetical planet nearest the sun whose existence was erroneously postulated to account for perturbations in Mercury's orbit.

Origin of Vulcan

1
First recorded in 1505–15, Vulcan is from the Latin word Vulcānus

Words Nearby Vulcan

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How to use Vulcan in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Vulcan (1 of 2)

Vulcan1

/ (ˈvʌlkən) /


noun
  1. the Roman god of fire and metalworking: Greek counterpart: Hephaestus

Derived forms of Vulcan

  • Vulcanian (vʌlˈkeɪnɪən), adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Vulcan (2 of 2)

Vulcan2

/ (ˈvʌlkən) /


noun
  1. a hypothetical planet once thought to lie within the orbit of Mercury

Derived forms of Vulcan

  • Vulcanian (vʌlˈkeɪnɪən), adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Vulcan

Vulcan

The Roman and Greek god of fire and metalworking; the blacksmith of the gods. He suffered bodily deformities and lameness. According to some stories, he was married to Venus, the goddess of love and beauty; in other stories, he was married to one of the three Graces. Vulcan was a son of Jupiter.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.