Vulcan

American  

[vuhl-kuhn] / ˈvʌl kən /

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.

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

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Vulcan ¹ British  

/ ˈvʌlkən, vʌlˈkeɪnɪən /

noun

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

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Vulcan ² British  

/ vʌlˈkeɪnɪən, ˈvʌlkən /

noun

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

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Vulcan Cultural  

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

• Vulcanian adjective

Etymology

Origin of Vulcan

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

Example Sentences

Among building materials companies, Builders FirstSource jumped 5.7%, and concrete supplier Vulcan Materials rose 2.7%.

From Barron's • Mar. 23, 2026

Around 20 years ago, it ditched an antiaircraft gun called the Vulcan as it transitioned to missile-based defense.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 15, 2026

Jason Hunke, a spokesman for Vulcan, the umbrella organization that oversees Paul Allen’s sports assets, didn’t comment on the fine.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 31, 2026

The entirety of Vulcan Street was covered by the evacuation zone, as was Reeves Road and Shaftesbury Crescent.

From BBC • Dec. 5, 2025

I felt like I had stepped onto the surface of the planet Vulcan, and was finally going to master the Kolinahr discipline, embracing logic and purging myself of all emotions.

From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram