drac (Romanian)
Where does "drac" come from?
The Romanian word drac traces its roots back to the Ancient Greek word drákōn, meaning 'serpent' or 'dragon.' This term passed into Latin as dracō and was eventually inherited by Romanian, where its meaning shifted from the mythological creature to the devil. It shares an ancestral path with the French and English word 'dragon,' though in Romanian, it developed into its own distinct, supernatural identity.
Full etymology tree
- drac (Romanian), 'devil'
- inherited dracō (Latin), 'A dragon; a kind of snake or serpent.'
- borrowed δράκων (drákōn) (Ancient Greek), 'dragon, serpent'
- derived δέρκομαι (dérkomai) (Ancient Greek), 'to see, see clearly'
- inherited *dérkomai (Proto-Hellenic)
- inherited *derḱ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to see'
- inherited *dérkomai (Proto-Hellenic)
- derived δέρκομαι (dérkomai) (Ancient Greek), 'to see, see clearly'
- borrowed δράκων (drákōn) (Ancient Greek), 'dragon, serpent'
- inherited dracō (Latin), 'A dragon; a kind of snake or serpent.'
Ancestors
- draco (Latin)
- δράκων (Ancient Greek)
Cognates and doublets
- drac (Aromanian)
- drac (French)
- drac (Megleno-Romanian)
- dragon (Romanian)
- dragu (Sicilian)
Descendants and derived words
- Dracula (English)
- Dracula (English)
- drăcie (Romanian)
- drăcos (Romanian)
- drăcui (Romanian)
Updated May 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris