Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Heraldry A two-legged dragon having wings and a barbed tail.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. See wivern.
Wiktionary
- n. heraldry, mythology Mythical dragon-like creature, having wings, only two legs and a barbed tail.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Her.) Same as wiver.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a fire-breathing dragon used in medieval heraldry; had the head of a dragon and the tail of a snake and a body with wings and two legs
Etymologies
- Alteration of Middle English wyvere ("viper"), from Old Northern French wivre, from Latin vīpera ("viper; snake, serpent"). See also weever. (Wiktionary)
- Alteration of Middle English wyvere, viper, from Old North French wivre, from Latin vīpera; see viper. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Hey, did you know a wyvern is a heraldic beast having a serpent's tail and a dragon's head and a body with wings and two legs?”
“In Legends of Steel Part IX, our brave heroes take on the invading Yarite army all by themselves, and are laid low by the invulnerable boss riding a demon wyvern.”
Final Savage Worlds “Legends of Steel” Session Summary Posted « Geek Related
“In Legends of Steel Part VIII (10 page pdf), some wyvern-riding moo-rons show up and convince the local yokels that pass as the government in this farm town that they should hand us over to the evil empire.”
Penultimate Savage Worlds “Legends of Steel” Session Summary Posted « Geek Related
“His heart was heavy as he retrieved a wyvern, slung the sack across his saddle, and mounted.”
“Druid and hunter both toppled from the wyvern, the druid changing into storm crow shape a scant few feet above the rise.”
“The wyvern had to be smelling the smoke, sensing the danger, yet he obeyed Thrall trustingly, never shying as Thrall guided him closer and closer to the source.”
“Thrall had barely left the shadow of the hold when the reins of a wyvern were pressed into his hand.”
“The smoke was thick and black, and the heat was so fierce, he wondered for a moment if it might burn his clothing right off him or scorch the courageous wyvern.”
“The wyvern flew away immediately, happy to put distance between himself and the danger now that he had served his rider well.”
“He pushed past them, barking orders as he did so: Bring me a wyvern!”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘wyvern’.
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MYTH - spooky creatures
takes the form of a, demon, teeth of iron, unicorn, forest spirit, magical eel, savage humanoid, one-horned animal, creature, headless humanoid, disease-bringing ..., rainbow-feathered... and 607 more...
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Mythical Beings
mermaid, manticore, fairy, brownie, dwarf, elf, leprechaun, selkie, gremlin, puck, pixie, genie and 97 more...
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The Pain of Texting
Words that are a pain in the ass to type in on a numerical keypad on a cell phone because they have consecutive letters that share the same button:
2 - ABC
3 - DEF
4 - GHI...defcon, hi, no, attitude, xylophone, on, monday, monkey, mono, dig, back, babble and 212 more...
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Heraldica
any and all things heraldry related.
tressure, trefoil, estoile, ermine, fesse, gules, azure, bend, bendlet, escutcheon, passant guardant, or and 58 more...
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the dictionary of fantasy creatures
non-humanoids only. #wordnikAtoZ
unicorn, kirin, cerapter, pegasus, gryphon, hippogriff, basilisk, dragon, wyrm, phoenix, roc, hippocampus and 5 more...
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LEGENDARY CREATURES
but only the ones with adorable names
whangdoodle, teakettler, hidebehind, argopelter, splintercat, come-at-a-body, fibbertigibbet, harpy-hag, cactus cat, glawackus, manticore, hodag and 40 more...
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Morthalion's Words
supercilious, kvetch, kvass, splurge, erroneous, pugnacious, macabre, gauche, conglomerate, abyss, paraphernalia, kleptomania and 285 more...
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Lively Words
quick, quicksilver, cwic, quitch grass, cwice, vivify, viviparous, viper, weever, wyvern, viand, victual and 148 more...
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Eocene (Eosin) (Eoscene) (Eoseen) Eng...
Dawn Words in English
swefnum, swefna, secgan, goste, wealhstod, wald-swathu, hearpan, hwaet, leothcraeft, beorhtost, wyrd, dustsceawung and 131 more...
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List of Heraldry Terms
Words and phrases used in blazoning heraldic devices, along with names and other terms associated with the art and science.
Other similar lists can be found on Wordnik, especially that...seiant, duciper, bourdon, pouch, scrip, staff, ananas, besant d'argent, roundle, roundel, argent, allocamelus and 743 more...
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words found to be generally pleasing
alabaster, mahogany, camphor, coalesce, spire, portmanteau, gadabout, palaver, dolor, dour, dun, luminesce and 610 more...
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Fictional beasties
elf, gnome, dwarf, sprite, troll, fairy, nymph, imp, brownie, sasquatch, yeti, wookiee and 574 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (W)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
wail, waistcoat, wales, wallflower, wand, wandering, wanderlust, waning, ward, wardrobe, warp, wassail and 97 more...
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kewpid's Words
moleskine, araldite, dessicate, cellar door, grotesque, fallacy, vendetta, raindrop, panacea, ethereal, hircus, treppenwitz and 446 more...
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Heraldry
azure, gules, sable, vert, purpure, or, argent, ermine, vair, charge, ordinary, cross and 118 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for wyvern.
knitandpurl "The suspended creatures turn their heads in the direction of the ghost in their midst. Gryphons and foxes and wyverns stare at him with glossy black eyes."
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, p 117
Oct 23, 2011