Vulcan

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvʌlkən/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Vul‧can

From Middle English Vulcan, Vulcanus, Wlcan, from Old English Ulcanus (genitive), from Classical Latin Vulcānus,^[1] probably from Etruscan although very unclear, but unknown meaning and further origin (see more in Latin entry). Doublet of bolcane and volcano.

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 1 (“blacksmith; metalworker”), 2 (“one who is lame”), and 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.^[1]

Noun sense 4 (“volcano”) is from Middle English wlcane, originally after Middle French Vulcan, wlcan, and chiefly after Spanish volcán in 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.^[1]

Vulcan (plural Vulcans)

1. (Roman mythology) The god of volcanoes and fire, especially the forge, also the patron of all craftsmen, especially blacksmiths. The Roman counterpart of Hephaestus.

   Alternative form: Vulcanus

   The goddess Venus was the wife of Vulcan.

   • 1579, Thomas Lodge, A Defence of Poetry, Music, and Stage-Plays, […], London: […] Shakespeare Society, published 1853, →OCLC, page 15:

     But I perceiue nowe that all red colloured stones are not Rubies, nether is euery one Alexander that hath a stare in his cheke, al lame men are not Vulcans, nor hooke nosed men Ciceroes, nether each professor a poet.

2. A placename.
   1. A town in Vulcan County, southern Alberta, Canada.
   2. A volcano in Papua New Guinea.
   3. A place in Romania.
      1. A commune of Brașov County, Romania.
      2. A city in Hunedoara County, Romania.
      3. A village in the commune of Apold, Mureș County, Romania.
      4. A village in the commune of Ciuruleasa, Alba County, Romania.
   4. A place in the United States.
      1. A ghost town in Gunnison County, Colorado.
      2. An unincorporated community in Norway Township, Dickinson County, Michigan.
      3. An unincorporated community in Iron County, Missouri.
      4. An inactive volcano in New Mexico, United States.
   6. (astronomy, historical) A hypothetical planet proposed in the 19th century to exist in an orbit between Mercury and the Sun.
   7. Ellipsis of Vulcan County.

Vulcan (countable and uncountable, plural Vulcans)

2. (countable, allusive) A blacksmith; a metalworker.
   • 1603, [Thomas Bell], “Of His Notorious Treasons and Bloodie Trecheries”, in The Anatomie of Popish Tyrannie: […], London: […] Iohn Harison, for Richard Bankworth, […], →OCLC, book 2 […], chapter V (Of the Birth, Parentage, Qualitie, Disposition, and Demeanour, of Robert Parsons the Iesuite), page 74:

     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?

   • 1638, Tho[mas] Herbert, “The History of the Great Mogull”, in Some Yeares Travels Into Divers Parts of Asia and Afrique. […], 2nd edition, London: […] R[ichard] Bi[sho]p for Iacob Blome and Richard Bishop, →OCLC, book I, page 55:

     Cingis-chan (as Haithon and others ſay, his contemporaries) was at firſt by profeſſion a Vulcan or Black-ſmith, by condition a good honeſt ſimple man: […]

   • 1693 [c. 100–127], Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Tenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 199, lines 202–205:

     Whom, born beneath a boding Horoſcope, / His Sire, the Blear-Ey’d Vulcan of a Shop, / From Mars his Forge, ſent to Minerva’s Schools, / To learn th’ unlucky Art of wheedling Fools.

     [original: Dis ille aduersis genitus fatoque sinistro, / Quem pater ardentis massae fuligine lippus / A carbone et forcipibus gladiosque paranti / Incude et luteo Volcano ad rhetora misit.]

   • 1704 August 20, Roger North, “For North Foley, Esq.”, in Augustus Jessopp, editor, The Lives of the Right Hon. Francis North, Baron Guilford; the Hon. Sir Dudley North; and the Hon. and Rev. Dr. John North. […] (Bohn’s Standard Library), volume III, London: George Bell and Sons, […], published 1890, →OCLC, page 252:

     This bearer is the Vulcan of our village, and one of the eaters of us farmers. He hath a design to buy his goods at the fountain head in the country.

   • 1831, Thomas Carlyle, “Aprons”, in Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh. […], London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 29:

     Aprons are Defences; against injury to cleanliness, to safety, to modesty, sometimes to roguery. From the thin slip of notched silk (as it were, the emblem and beatified ghost of an Apron), which some highest-bred housewife, sitting at Nürnberg Workboxes and Toyboxes, has gracefully fastened on; […] to those jingling sheet-iron Aprons, wherein your otherwise half-naked Vulcans hammer and smelt in their smelt-furnace,—is there not range enough in the fashion and uses of this Vestment?

   • 1994, Raphael Samuel, “The Eye of History”, in Theatres of Memory, volume 1 (Past and Present in Contemporary Culture), London: Verso, →ISBN, part V (Old Photographs), page 324:

     In place of the bow-legged tailor, sitting at his board; the tubercular Sheffield grinder coughing out his lungs; or the seamstress, toiling away for dear life in the attic, we have the sturdy blacksmith, a Vulcan at the forge; […]

4. (countable, allusive, now rare) One who is lame (unable to walk properly), especially with a twisted or otherwise misshapen leg.
   • 1600, Thomas Nash, “The Epilogue”, in A Pleasant Comedie, Called Summers Last Will and Testament, London: […] Simon Stafford, for Walter Burre, →OCLC, signature I2, verso:

     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.

   • c. 1670s (date written), Thomas Brown [i.e., Thomas Browne], “Sect[ion] XX”, in John Jeffery, editor, Christian Morals, […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] [A]t the University-Press, for Cornelius Crownfield printer to the University; and are to be sold by Mr. Knapton […]; and Mr. [John] Morphew […], published 1716, →OCLC, part III, page 109:

     And therefore ſo many, who are ſiniſtrous unto Good Actions, are Ambi-dexterous unto bad, and Vulcans in virtuous Paths, Achilleſes in vitious motions.

   • 1756, John Dove, An Essay on Inspiration: or An Attempt to Shew that the Pretences of the Ancient and the Modern Zamzummim, to That Ray of Divinity, Were, and Are, Deceptions. […], London: […] [F]or the Author; and sold by E. Withers, […] R. Baldwin, […] and G. Keith, […], →OCLC, page 82:

     [T]hus array’d and ſtump’d, they commend his garb and mein to their neighbours, to make them appear ſuch limping Vulcans as he is.

   • 1906, Alfred Henry Lewis, “The Man with the Crutch”, in Confessions of a Detective, New York, N.Y.: A[lfred] S[mith] Barnes & Company, →OCLC, page 108:

     The man was a Hercules, or perhaps a Vulcan would be better, since his right leg was twisted and misshapen, and sensibly shorter than its fellow.

6. (countable and uncountable, chiefly literary, obsolete) Fire; a fire.
   • 1595 [1584], Guillaume de Saluste Seigneur du Bartas, translated by William L’Isle, Babilon, a Part of the Seconde Weeke of Guillaume de Saluste Seigneur du Bartas, with the Commentarie, and Marginall Notes of S. G. S., London: […] Ed[mund] Bollifant, for Richard Watkins, →OCLC, page 15:

     Like as the Vulcan weake, that ſome chill companie, / Of ſhepheards in the leaffie verges haue let lie / Of ſome one foreſt wide, awhile it ſelfe keepes in, / Yet vomiting ſmoke-waues, dark’neth the bright welkin: / Then by ſoft Zephyrs helpe, whiles in low buſh it lurks, / Makes a red flaming way to his fierce angers works; / Vp to the blooming Thorne, fro th’ humble buſh it ſtirs, […]

     [original: 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 hallier au flairant Aubeſpin, […]]

   • 1603 [c. 100], Plutarch, “Reading and Hearing of Poemes and Poets”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 30:

     But when hee bewaileth his ſiſters husband, who periſhed and was drowned in the ſea, by which accident he wanted his due ſepulture, he ſaith, that he could have borne this calamitie and misfortune the better, / If that his head and lovely limmes / in pure white clothes iclad, / As doth beſeeme a faire dead corps, / Vulcan consumed had. / By which word Vulcan, he meaneth fire, and not the god himſelfe.

     [original: [Ὅ]ταν δὲ τὸν ἄνδρα τῆς ἀδελφῆς ἠφανισμένον ἐν θαλάττῃ καὶ μὴ τυχόντα νομίμου ταφῆς θρηνῶν λέγῃ μετριώτερον ἂν τὴν συμφορὰν ἐνεγκεῖν / Εἰ κείνου κεφαλὴν καὶ χαρίεντα μέλεα / Ἥφαιστος καθαροῖσιν ἐν εἵμασιν ἀμφεπονήθη, / τὸ πῦρ οὕτως, οὐ τὸν θεὸν προσηγόρευσε.]

     [Hó]tan dè tòn ándra tês adelphês ēphanisménon en thaláttēi kaì mḕ tukhónta nomímou taphês thrēnôn légēi metriṓteron àn tḕn sumphoràn enenkeîn / Ei keínou kephalḕn kaì kharíenta mélea / Hḗphaistos katharoîsin en heímasin ampheponḗthē, / tò pûr hoútōs, ou tòn theòn prosēgóreuse.

   • 1674, John Josselyn, “The Second Voyage”, in An Account of Two Voyages to New-England. […], London: […] Giles Widdows, […], →OCLC, page 138:

     [I]n the midſt they make their Vulcan or fire near to a great Tree, upon the ſnags whereof they hang their kettles fil’d with the Veniſon; […]

   • 1708, [John Philips], “Book II”, in Cyder. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 57:

     [N]or let the crude Humors dance / In heated Braſs, ſteaming with Fire intenſe; / Altho’ Devonia much commends the Uſe / Of ſtrengthning Vulcan; […]

   • 1728, [Alexander Pope], “Book the Third”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC, page 40, lines 71–74:

     Thence to the South as far extend thy eyes; / There rival flames with equal glory riſe, / From ſhelves to ſhelves ſee greedy Vulcan roll, / And lick up all their Phyſick of the Soul.

   • 1850 May 5, Henry David Thoreau, edited by Bradford Torrey, The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal, volume X (Journal, IV: May 1, 1852–February 27, 1853), Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin and Company, published 1906, →OCLC, pages 22–23:

     What a strange, Titanic thing this Fire, this Vulcan, here at work in the night in this bog, far from men, dangerous to them, consuming earth, gnawing at its vitals!

   • 1897, Denton J[aques] Snider, “Books 19–22”, in Homer’s Iliad. With a Preliminary Survey of the Four Literary Bibles. A Commentary., St. Louis, Mo.: Sigma Publishing Co., […], →OCLC, page 450:

     If we have had the dominion of one element shown, now we behold the opposing element. Fire, fighting the waters. This Vulcan, or heat, is chiefly borne by the winds who dry up the streams.

8. (countable, obsolete) A volcano.
   • 1604 [1590], Ioseph Acosta, translated by E[dward] G[rimeston], “Of the Windes, Their Differences, Properties, and Causes in Generall”, in The Naturall and Morall Historie of the East and West Indies. […], London: […] Val[entine] Sims for Edward Blount and William Aspley, →OCLC, book 3, page 119:

     But of thoſe which are in the Vulcans or mouths of fire at the Indies, worthy doubtleſſe to be obſerved, I will ſpeake in their order, treating of the diverſitie of grounds, whereas they finde theſe fires or Vulcans.

     [original: 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.]

   • 1647, Alexander Ross, “Chimæra”, in Mystagogus Poeticus, or The Muses Interpreter: Explaining the Historicall Mysteries, and Mythicall Histories of the Ancient Greek and Latine Poets. […], London: […] Richard Whitaker […], →OCLC, page 63:

     Some think that this was a hill, on the top whereof were Lions and Vulcans of fire, about the middle was paſture and Goats, at the foot Serpents, which Bellerophon made habitable: […]

   • a. 1692 (date written), Robert Boyle, “Title XI. Of Salts in the Air.”, in The General History of the Air, […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1692, →OCLC, page 41:

     Not to mention that the Number of theſe may, in divers Places, be much increaſed, by thoſe Vulcans, that have open Vents to diſcharge their Fumes into the Air; […]

   • 1707, William Funnell, chapter V, in A Voyage round the World. Containing an Account of Captain [William] Dampier’s Expedition into the South-Seas in the Ship St George, […], London: […] W. Botham, for James Knapton, […], →OCLC, page 111:

     From the Vulcan of Soconuſco, to the Vulcans of Amilpas, is twelve Leagues. This is all very high and remarkable Land. The two higheſt Vulcans have each a River of freſh Water right againſt them. Theſe Vulcans ſend out Smoke ſometimes, but not often.

• Vulcan (mythology) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Vulcan (hypothetical planet) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Vulcan, Alberta on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

From Vulcan (etymology 1), from the Star Trek TV series of the 1960s. The adjective is by analogy with -an.

Vulcan

1. An inhabited planet, the homeworld of the Vulcan species.
   • 1998, Harriet Goldhor Lerner, The Mother Dance: How Children Change Your Life, London, page 159:

     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.

2. A language constructed for the Star Trek franchise, spoken by the fictional Vulcan species.

Vulcan (plural Vulcans)

1. An inhabitant of the planet Vulcan; a species that values a personal emphasis on logic and strict personal emotional control.
2. (slang, derogatory) A person who, like the fictional Vulcans, seems to lack emotion or is overly analytical and boring.

   Synonym: Spock

   • 2011 January 15, Dylan Jones, “Is there a Vulcan in the White House?”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 January 2011:

     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.

Vulcan (comparative more Vulcan, superlative most Vulcan)

1. Of, relating to, resembling, or characteristic of the fictional Vulcans.
   • 1994 June 26, Marie Brown Loehr, “Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?”, in The New York Times Magazine‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 May 2015:

     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.

   • 2019 January 22, CBS All Access, “Women Drive the Action in ‘Star Trek: Discovery’”, in The New York Times‎^[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 February 2019:

     After her [Michael Burnham’s] human parents were killed by Klingons, she was raised by a Vulcan father and a human mother, along with the couple’s biological child, Spock. “Burnham was envisioned as a woman who must find the balance between two distinctly different ideologies,” said [Sonequa] Martin-Green. “Being human yet indoctrinated with a Vulcan way of life causes an inner conflict that is familiar to a lot of people.”

   • 2022 July 31, Jordan Hoffman, “Nichelle Nichols, Pioneering Star Trek Actress and NASA Recruiter, Dies at Age 89”, in Radhika Jones, editor, Vanity Fair‎^[4], New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 31 July 2022:

     She demonstrated her singing abilities on the show, often accompanying herself on the Vulcan lyre.

2. (slang, derogatory) Lacking emotion or overly analytical and boring.
   • 1997 January 5, Joel Achenbach, “The Staffers of Life”, in The Washington Post‎^[5], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

     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 idea.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 2011 March 29, Alessandra Stanley, “Body of Proof: Feisty Types? Try Looking in the Morgue”, in The New York Times‎^[6], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 4 April 2011:

     The same could be said of Dr. Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel), a forensic anthropologist on “Bones” who is so driven and unfeeling that she has to have human emotions explained to her by an F.B.I. agent. (After six seasons, she has warmed up a little, but she hasn’t completely lost her Vulcan detachment.)

   • 2011 October 8, Dan Neil, “Acura TL: A Good Grille and a Better Car Behind It”, in The Wall Street Journal‎^[7], New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 November 2022:

     This car is a victim of C.I., that is, "corporate image." As a brand, Acura is so lacking in emotion it's practically Vulcan.

From Vulcan (etymology 1).

Vulcan (plural Vulcans)

1. (aircraft) The Avro Vulcan, a type of jet-powered British bomber aircraft built by Avro during the Cold War.

• Audio:

  (file)

Borrowed from Hungarian Volkány, from Old Church Slavonic влькъ (vlĭkŭ, “wolf”).

Vulcan m

1. a village in Ciuruleasa, Alba County, Romania
2. a commune of Brașov County, Romania
3. a village in Vulcan, Brașov County, Romania
4. a city in Hunedoara County, Romania
5. a village in Apold, Mureș County, Romania

Borrowed from Latin Vulcānus.

Vulcan m

1. (Roman mythology) Vulcan