Vulcan
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Vulcan¹
- /ˈvʌlkən/ US, UK
Where it comes from
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.
Etymology 1, 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 etymology 1 1 (“blacksmith; metalworker”), etymology 1 2 (“one who is lame”), and etymology 1 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.
Etymology 1, 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.
proper noun Vulcans
-
The god of volcanoes and fire, especially the forge, also the patron of all craftsmen, especially blacksmiths. The Roman counterpart of Hephaestus.
The goddess Venus was the wife of Vulcan.
Similar: la:Mulciber
- A town in Vulcan County, southern Alberta, Canada.
- A volcano in Papua New Guinea.
- A commune of Brașov County, Romania.
- A city in Hunedoara County, Romania.
- A village in the commune of Apold, Mureș County, Romania.
- A village in the commune of Ciuruleasa, Alba County, Romania.
- A ghost town in Gunnison County, Colorado.
- An unincorporated community in Norway Township, Dickinson County, Michigan.
- An unincorporated community in Iron County, Missouri.
- An inactive volcano in New Mexico, United States.
- A hypothetical planet proposed in the 19th century to exist in an orbit between Mercury and the Sun. 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.
- Ellipsis of Vulcan County
noun Vulcans
- A blacksmith; a metalworker. 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?
- One who is lame (unable to walk properly), especially with a twisted or otherwise misshapen leg. To make you merry that are the Gods of Art, and guides vnto heauen, a number of rude Vulcans, vnweldy ſpeakers, hammer-headed clownes (for ſo it pleaſeth them in modeſtie to name themſelues) haue ſet their deformities to view, as it were in a daunce here before you.
- Fire; a fire. Comme vn foible Vulcan, que la troupe frilleuſe / Des paſteurs laiſſe cheoir dans l’orée fueilleuſe / D’vne vaſte foreſt, ſe tient coy quelque tems, / Eſleuant des nuaux fumeuſement flottans / Sur vn humble buiſſon: puis aydé par Zephire / Fait voye rougiſſant aux efforts de ſon ire: / Monte du bas
- A volcano. Mas de los fuegos, que ay en Bolcanes de Indias, que tienen digna conſideracion, diraſe commodamente, quando ſe trate de la diuerſidad de tierras, donde eſſos fuegos, y bolcanes ſe hallan.
Vulcan²
- /ˈvʌlkən/ US, UK
Where it comes from
From Vulcan (etymology 1), from the Star Trek TV series of the 1960s. The adjective is by analogy with -an.
proper noun
- An inhabited planet, the homeworld of the Vulcan species. Steve and I explained the new program to our children, who looked at us as if we had just announced that we were from the planet Vulcan.
- A language constructed for the Star Trek franchise, spoken by the fictional Vulcan species.
noun Vulcans
- An inhabitant of the planet Vulcan; a species that values a personal emphasis on logic and strict personal emotional control.
-
A person who, like the fictional Vulcans, seems to lack emotion or is overly analytical and boring.
It’s a personality thing more than anything else, as [Barack] Obama has a tendency to appear cold – unwilling or unable to act anything like a father figure.
Similar: Spock
adjective more Vulcan · most Vulcan
- Of, relating to, resembling, or characteristic of the fictional Vulcans. On the other hand, any being with intellect, will and self-awareness is, by definition, human, whatever its outward appearance or solar system of origin. Captain Kirk is properly Terran, as Spock is Vulcan or Worf is Klingon. They are all human.
- Lacking emotion or overly analytical and boring. The military has staffing down to a science (note that the top job is the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff). Even four-star generals can think like a staffer. [Colin] Powell’s natural human instinct as a principal might be to run for president, but his Vulcan-staffer side tells him it’s a crazy
Vulcan³
- /ˈvʌlkən/ US, UK
Where it comes from
From Vulcan (etymology 1).
noun Vulcans
- The Avro Vulcan, a type of jet-powered British bomber aircraft built by Avro during the Cold War.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: meld, sinclair, canmore, volcanus, hephaestus, hephestus, hephaestos, hephestos, hephaistos, hephæstus, hephæstos, hephaistus, volcanalia, vulcanalia, vesta, svarog
Translations
Every language
name Roman god of fire
| Español | Vulcano |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 불카누스 Bulkanuseu |
| 日本語 | バルカン Barukan, ウゥルカーヌス Wurukānusu, ウルカヌス Urukanusu, ヴァルカン Varukan |
| 中文 | 武爾坎努斯 /武尔坎努斯 Wǔ'ěrkǎnnǔsī, 伍爾卡努斯 /伍尔卡努斯 Wǔ'ěrkǎnǔsī, 伏爾甘 /伏尔甘 Fú'ěrgān, 武爾坎 /武尔坎 Wǔ'ěrkǎn |
| Português | Vulcano |
| Français | Vulcain |
| Deutsch | Vulkan |
| Italiano | Vulcano |
| Ελληνικά | Βουλκάνους Voulkánous |
| Русский | Вулка́н Vulkán |
| Tiếng Việt | Vulcan |
Talk about this word "Vulcan." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/vulcan. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. Vulcan. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/vulcan "Vulcan." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/vulcan.Cite this
@misc{vulcan_2026,
title = {Vulcan},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/vulcan},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
