An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Drache
Drache, m. (with a MidG. d), ‘dragon, kite, termagant,’ from MidHG. trache, (UpG. tracke). OHG. trahho (UpG. traccho), m.; the ModHG. initial sound is to be regarded in the same way as in dichten (comp. MidLG. and MidDu. drâke). The word was naturalised in Germany before the 8th cent.; as in the case of the bird Greif, ‘griffin,’ the dragon as a fabulous beast furnished material for the imaginative faculty of the Germans, and supplanted the native mythological creations. The E. loan-word is equally old — AS. draca, E. drake (in drake-fly or dragon-fly). The word is based on Lat. (Rom.) draco (dracco), which again is derived from Gr. δράκων, ‘dragon,’ lit. ‘the sharp-sighted animal’ (from δέρκομαϊ). E. dragon, is of recent Rom. origin (Fr. dragon).