Q 01/05

'Dragon' entered English in the 13th century via Old French from a Latin word meaning what?

A) Fire-breather

B) Guardian

C) Winged lizard

D) Huge serpent

Answer · why

D) Huge serpent

The Greek root drakon probably comes from a verb meaning 'I see', a nod to the creature's fearsome gaze.

Q 02/05

What did the earliest attested dragons in world mythology most resemble?

A) Lizards

B) Birds

C) Snakes

D) Crocodiles

Answer · why

C) Snakes

Storm gods slaying giant serpents turn up in nearly every Near Eastern and Indo-European mythology.

Q 03/05

Chinese dragons were traditionally thought to govern what?

A) Fire and volcanoes

B) Gold and treasure

C) War and thunder

D) Rain, the sea and other water

Answer · why

D) Rain, the sea and other water

From the Han dynasty on they were also emblems of imperial power.

Q 04/05

Under the Ming and Qing dynasties, a dragon with how many claws was reserved strictly for the emperor?

A) Three

B) Four

C) Five

D) Six

Answer · why

C) Five

Princes and nobles had to make do with four-clawed dragons.

Q 05/05

Per the Han scholar Wang Fu, a Chinese dragon's scales resemble those of which animal?

A) A snake

B) A pangolin

C) A crocodile

D) A carp

Answer · why

D) A carp

Antlers of a stag, head of a camel, eyes of a demon, neck of a snake, claws of an eagle, soles of a tiger, ears of a cow.