# dragoon

> English word · Noun · IPA /dɹəˈɡuːn/ · frequency rank #44,176

## Definitions
1. Synonym of dragon (“a type of musket with a short, large-calibre barrel and a flared muzzle, metaphorically exhaling fire like a mythical dragon”).
2. Originally (historical), a soldier armed with a dragoon musket (noun sense 1.1) who fought both on foot and mounted on a horse; now, a cavalier or horse soldier from a regiment formerly armed with such muskets.
3. A man with a fierce or unrefined manner, like a dragoon (noun sense 1.2).
4. A variety of pigeon, originally a cross between a horseman and a tumbler.

## Etymology
The noun is borrowed from French dragon (“dragon (mythological creature); type of cavalry soldier, dragoon”) (originally referring to a soldier armed with the firearm of the same name (noun sense 1.1)), ultimately from Latin dracō (“dragon; kind of serpent or snake”), from Ancient Greek δρᾰ́κων (drắkōn, “dragon; serpent”), possibly from δέρκομαι (dérkomai, “to see, see clearly (in the sense of something staring)”), from Proto-Indo-European *derḱ- (“to see”)). Doublet of Draco, dracone, and dragon.
The verb is either derived:
* from the noun; or
* from French dragonner (“to force (someone) into doing something, coerce; to torment (oneself)”), from dragon (noun) (see above) + -er (suffix forming infinitives of first-conjugation verbs).

## Easily confused with
- **Drayton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dragoon-vs-drayton)
- **Drago** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/drago-vs-dragoon)
- **dragon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dragon-vs-dragoon)

## Common misspellings (9)
`dargoon`, `ddragoon`, `draggoon`, `dragono`, `dragoonn`, `draogon`, `drgaoon`, `drragoon`, `rdagoon`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/dragoon