Vulcan Meaning
/ˈvʌlkən/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Definition
proper nounThe Roman god of fire and metalworking; also a name used in science and fiction.
nameThe god of volcanoes and fire, especially the forge, also the patron of all craftsmen, especially blacksmiths. The Roman counterpart of Hephaestus.
Sentence Examples
Word Origin & History
From Middle English Vulcan, Vulcanus, Wlcan, from Old English Ulcanus (genitive), from Classical Latin Vulcānus, probably from Etruscan although very unclear, but unknown meaning and further origin (see more in Latin entry). Doublet of bolcane and volcano. Proper noun sense 2.5 (“hypothetical planet”) is a semantic loan from French Vulcan, coined by French physicist, mathematician and astronomer Jacques Babinet in 1846, who proposed this name after the god for a planet close to the Sun. Noun senses 1 (“blacksmith; metalworker”), 2 (“one who is lame”), and 3 (“fire”) are allusions to Vulcan as the god of fire and metalworking and his lameness. Compare Middle French Vulcan (“blacksmith; metalworker”), also attested in early modern French meaning “fire” in apparently isolated use. Noun sense 4 (“volcano”) is from Middle English wlcane, originally after Middle French Vulcan, wlcan, and chiefly after Spanish volcán in subsequent use, ultimately arising from Latin Vulcānus and Italian Vulcano as a name for Mount Etna and one or more of the Aeolian Islands (with active volcanoes on the islands now called Vulcano and Stromboli), probably after Arabic بُرْكَان (burkān, “volcano”), ultimately reflecting the Latin and Italian place names.