dragoon

Meaning

Noun

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 (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 (sense 1.2).
4. A variety of pigeon, originally a cross between a horseman and a tumbler.

Verb

1. To subject (a Huguenot) to the dragonnades (“a policy instituted by Louis XIV of France in 1681 to intimidate Protestant Huguenots to convert to Roman Catholicism by billeting dragoons (noun sense 1.2) in their homes to abuse them and destroy or steal their possessions”).
2. Chiefly followed by into: to force (someone) into doing something through harassment and intimidation; to coerce.
3. To cause (someone) to be attacked by dragoons.

Synonyms

coerce

cavalryman

intimidate

force

sandbag

browbeat

compel

railroad

reduce

hound

menace

bully

harass

subjugate

harry

terrorize

horseman

tyrannize

oppress

bludgeon

hector

pressure

mounted soldier

boss

clamp

🗜️

commandeer

drive

enforce

equestrian

grab

hale

hussar

impel

make

persecute

press

scold

subdue

subject

subordinate

trooper

Moorisch gecko

ache

Hyphenated as

dra‧goon

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dɹəˈɡuːn/

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 (sense 1.1)), ultimately from Latin dracō (“dragon; kind of serpent or snake”), from Ancient Greek δρᾰ́κων (drákōn, “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).