Standard Lemma guide

pendragon

name · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /pɛnˈdɹæɡ(ə)n/
  • General-American: /pɛnˈdɹæɡ(ə)n/
  • General-American: /ˈpɛnˌdɹæɡ(ə)n/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -æɡən

1

name

Meaning 1

An epithet of Uther, the father of King Arthur.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: Arthurian legend

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

An epithet or surname of King Arthur.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: Arthurian legend

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Also capitalized as Pendragon: a title assumed by the ancient British chiefs when called to lead other chiefs: chief war leader, chieftain, dictator, despot or king.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Alternative letter-case form of pendragon.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

the supreme war chief of the ancient Britons

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: headman, tribal chief, chieftain, chief

History

Etymology

See pendragon.

From Middle English Pendragon, borrowed from Welsh pendragon (“chief war leader”), from pen (“head; chief; principal, supreme”) (ultimately from Proto-Celtic *kwennom (“head”)) + dragon (“dragon; commander, war leader”) (from Latin dracō (“serpent, snake; dragon”), from Ancient Greek δρᾰ́κων (drắkōn, “serpent; dragon”), possibly from δέρκομαι (dérkomai, “to see, see clearly (in the sense of something staring)”), from Proto-Indo-European *derḱ- (“to see”)). Compare Late Latin īnsulāris dracō (literally “dragon of the island”), used by the monk Saint Gildas (c. 500 – c. 570 AD) in De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain) as an epithet of Maelgwn Gwynedd (died c. 547), the king of Gwynedd.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Estonian: ülempealik — chief war leader, dictator, or king
  • Korean: 펜드래건 (pendeuraegeon) — chief war leader, dictator, or king
  • Northern Kurdish: xunkar — chief war leader, dictator, or king
  • Portuguese: pendragon — chief war leader, dictator, or king