Dracula

American  

[drak-yuh-luh] / ˈdræk yə lə /

noun

1. (italics) a novel (1897) by Bram Stoker.

2. Count, the central character in this novel: the archetype of a vampire.

---

Etymology

Origin of Dracula

Origin uncertain; perhaps from Romanian Drăculea, a diminutive or patronymic of drăcul “the dragon,” and derived from a knightly order called the “Order of the Dragon” ( Ordo Draconum ), founded in 1408 by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund ( 1368–1437 ), then king of Hungary, to defend Christianity and the Empire against the Ottoman Turks. After Vlad II Dracul (c. 1395–1447 ) was admitted to the order around 1431, he wore the dragon emblem of the order. Later, when Vlad II was prince of Wallachia (now part of Romania), his coinage bore the image of the dragon, from which the name Dracula is derived. Vlad II’s son, Vlad III (Vlad Ţepeş “Vlad the Impaler,” c.1431–c.1476 ) is most likely the model for the Bram Stoker character. Cf. dragon

Example Sentences

He picked up Christopher Lee at the airport once, and — as a big fan of Dracula — he half-believed he saw the English actor transforming into a vampire while they drove to the club.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2026

Erivo conjures the Victorian world through voice and movement and her Dracula, delivered in a Nigerian accent and crowned with bright red hair, is only one of dozens of transformations.

From BBC • Feb. 18, 2026

And in fifth place at $4.5 million was Luc Besson's English-language adaptation of "Dracula," which was released in select countries outside the United States last year.

From Barron's • Feb. 8, 2026

Tolkien’s barrow-wights are quite different from Bram Stoker’s Dracula or Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla—and that is exactly this book’s point.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025

I knew the director of Dracula, Tod Browning, was talented, because people have been talking about his work for decades now.

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon