Vulcan Meaning

/ˈvʌlkən/
B2

Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Listen pronunciation

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.

Every human envies the human admired by every Vulcan.
Vulcan philosophy scares the ordinary, because it encourages freeing from emotions.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ancient Roman god ____ used a hammer and anvil to forge weapons in his workshop.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In ancient mythology, ____ was the god of fire and metalworking, who forged many weapons for several gods today.

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.

"But I perceiue nowe that all red colloured stones are not Rubies, nether is euery one Alexander that hath a stare in his cheke, al lame men are not Vulcans, nor hooke nosed men Ciceroes, nether each professor a poet." — 1579, Thomas Lodge, A Defence of Poetry, Music, and Stage-Plays, […], London: […] Shakespeare Society, published 1853, →OCLC, page 15:
"When Mercury's orbit was discovered to deviate from the predictions from Isaac Newton's laws of gravity, astronomers hypothesized the existence of planet Vulcan, whose gravity could be used to affect Mercury in such a way that Newton's laws were obeyed." — 2025, Neil deGrasse Tyson, “Planets, Moons, and Cosmic Debris”, in Just Visiting This Planet, Revised and Updated for the Twenty-First Century (Science / Astronomy), Blackstone Publishing, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 37:
"How ſay you fryer Robert, out of what foꝛge came theſe warlike engins? they were hammered in Salamanca the ſeuenth day of March, 1602. and are as you ſee, read hote. But what Vulcan was the woꝛkeman of them?" — 1603, [Thomas Bell], “Of His Notorious Treasons and Bloodie Trecheries”, in The Anatomie of Popish Tyrannie: […], London: […] Iohn Harison, for Richard Bankworth, […], →OCLC, book 2 […], chapter V (Of the Birth, Parentage, Qualitie, Disposition, and Demeanour, of Robert Parsons the Iesuite), page 74:
"Cingis-chan (as Haithon and others ſay, his contemporaries) was at firſt by profeſſion a Vulcan or Black-ſmith, by condition a good honeſt ſimple man: […]" — 1638, Tho[mas] Herbert, “The History of the Great Mogull”, in Some Yeares Travels Into Divers Parts of Asia and Afrique. […], 2nd edition, London: […] R[ichard] Bi[sho]p for Iacob Blome and Richard Bishop, →OCLC, book I, page 55:
"Dis ille aduersis genitus fatoque sinistro, / Quem pater ardentis massae fuligine lippus / A carbone et forcipibus gladiosque paranti / Incude et luteo Volcano ad rhetora misit." — 1693 [c. 100–127], Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Tenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 199, lines 202–205:

Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words

CEFR Practice Quiz
The ancient Roman god ____ used a hammer and anvil to forge weapons in his workshop.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In ancient mythology, ____ was the god of fire and metalworking, who forged many weapons for several gods today.

Expand Your Vocabulary with LexUp

Master English words using smart flashcards, play exciting word rounds, and compete with other learners worldwide.

Browse CEFR Words Alphabetically