dragonship means A type of Viking longship decorated with a carved dragon or serpent head on the prow. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 90 out of 100.
Why “dragonship” is a great word
DRAGONSHIP — [Noun] A Viking longship characterized by a prow carved in the shape of a dragon or serpent head. From dragon + ship, a calque of Old Norse drekaskip, from dreki (“dragon”) + skip (“ship”). Unlike “longship,” which neutrally designates a functional hull form, or “drakkar,” a modern term steeped in romanticism, “dragonship” names the specific, fearsome ornament that transformed a warship into a totem. It is the carved oak beast cleaving the dawn mist of a foreign fjord; the silent serpent-head shrouded in sailcloth for a homecoming; the first, terrible silhouette slithering over the horizon—a vessel designed as psychological warfare, where the word itself is the alarm.
noun
- A type of Viking longship decorated with a carved dragon or serpent head on the prow.“Every summer brought the prospect of the dragonships snaking their way upriver, each vessel filled with thirty or more rapacious thugs.”
- A term of address for a dragon.“But the dragon was not to be persuaded, he shook his head, and said — "No."
"But your dragonship shall and must," said the little Princess, stamping her foot impatiently upon the ground, as if she wished the great dragon himself were under her feet.”