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.

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

Vulcan

¹

/ vʌlˈkeɪnɪən, ˈvʌlkən /

noun

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

Vulcan

²

/ ˈvʌlkən, vʌlˈkeɪnɪən /

noun

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

Vulcan

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.

Other Word Forms

• Vulcanian adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Vulcan¹

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

Example Sentences

Brought over to Arm & Hammer in 1867 from Vulcan Spice Mills, that arm belongs to Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

"Some of the war planes in this hangar are very, very big, including the Vulcan and the Valiant," Mr Picken said.

Read more on BBC

Meanwhile, another Gladiator friend, Vulcan - aka John Seru - had landed a part in the latest James Bond film, The World is Not Enough.

Read more on BBC

The venture introduced its new Vulcan Centaur rocket this year, which is partly reusable and lowers launch costs to about $110 million.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

When Leonard Nimoy was approached about acting in a new TV series called “Star Trek,” he was, like any good Vulcan contemplating a risky mission in a chaotic universe, dispassionate.

Read more on Los Angeles Times