Learn Romanian › drac

drac

devil /ˈdrak/

noun#227 most common

Also: demon, the devil (in idioms, as an intensifier: 'the hell')

Example sentences

Nu sunt un drac, sunt om bun.
I'm not a devil, I'm a good person.
Du-te la dracu'!
Go to hell!
Ce dracu' faci acolo?
What the hell are you doing there?
Dracul nu e chiar așa de negru cum e zugrăvit.
The devil isn't as black as he's painted.
Bătrânii spuneau că dracul umblă noaptea prin sat, luând chipul unui drumeț singuratic.
The old folks used to say that the devil wandered the village at night, taking the shape of a lone traveler.
Deși știința neagă existența spiritelor, superstiția potrivit căreia dracul se preumblă prin bezna pădurilor persistă și astăzi în unele sate izolate.
Although science denies the existence of spirits, the superstition that the devil roams the darkness of the forests still persists today in some isolated villages.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativedraculdracii
Genitivedraculuidracilor
Accusativedraculdracii
Vocativedracedracilor

Word family

drăcescdevilish, damn (attributive)
drăciemischief, devilry, a wicked prank
a (se) drăcuito curse, to swear
îndrăcitpossessed, wild, frenzied
drăcușorlittle devil, imp

Etymology

Drac comes from Latin draco, meaning dragon or serpent. In early Christian usage across the Balkans, the dragon/serpent of Latin and Greek imagery merged with the biblical serpent-devil of Revelation, and the word's meaning shifted from a mythical beast to the devil himself. The same shift produced Albanian words for dragon-like beings from the same Latin root. Latin draco itself was borrowed from Greek drakōn, an old word for serpent tied to its watchful gaze.

Learn Romanian the way that sticks.
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,027 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free

More Romanian words

ucideto killafarăoutsidevreunany (some, unspecified)numaionlyminutminute (unit of time)cunoașteto know (a person, place, or thing through experience)adicăthat is (to say)folosito use