pendragon

¹

[pen-drag-uhn]

noun

1. the supreme leader: the title of certain ancient British chiefs.

Pendragon

²

[pen-drag-uhn]

noun

1. either of two kings of ancient Britain.

pendragon

/ pɛnˈdræɡən /

noun

1. a supreme war chief or leader of the ancient Britons

Other Word Forms

• pendragonship noun
• pendragonish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pendragon¹

1470–80; < Medieval Latin (Geoffrey of Monmouth) Uthyrpendragun Uther Pendragon, taken as Medieval Welsh pen ( n ) head + *dragun < Late Latin dracōnēs, plural of dracō military standard, Latin: serpent, dragon (hence, chief or head standard), though the compound is unattested in Welsh sources outside of translations of Geoffrey of Monmouth

Word History and Origins

Origin of pendragon¹

Welsh, literally: head dragon

Example Sentences

There is a table so called at Winchester, and Henry VIII. showed it to François I. as the very table made by Merlin for Uther the pendragon.

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He would have gratefully given all his patrimonial domains to one who should inform him what pendragon or druid it was who set up the first stone on Salisbury plain.

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Aurelius, elder brother of Uther the pendragon, and uncle of Arthur, but he died before the hero was born.

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