Vulcanian

English

Alternative forms

• Vulcanean

Etymology

Directly from Latin Vulcāniānus or from Latin Vulcānius + -an within English, from Vulcānus + -iānus (“-ian”) or -ius (“-y: forming adjectives”). In reference to a type or stage of volcanic activity, via Italian Vulcaniano, with specific reference to Giuseppe Mercalli's observations of the 1888–90 eruptions of the Aeolian island Vulcano. Equivalent to Vulcan +‎ -ian. Doublet of volcanian. Compare slightly earlier Middle French vulcanien.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /vəlˈkeɪniən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /vʌlˈkeɪnɪən/

Adjective

Vulcanian (not comparable)

1. (Roman mythology) Of, related to, or created by Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalwork, considered equivalent to the Greek Hephaestus and several German and Celtic gods.
   • 1697, John Dryden translating Vergil as Georgics, Book III, in The Works of Virgil, p. 121:

     ...Nor cou'd Vulcanian Flame
     The Stench abolish; or the Savour tame...

   1. (rare, obsolete) Alternative letter-case form of vulcanian, a cuckold.
      • 1598, John Marston, “Certaine Satyres”, in The Metamorphosis of Pigmalions Image..., page 41:

        Yet Muto, like a good Vulcanian,
        An honest Cuckold, calls the bastard sonne,
        And brags of that which others for him done.

2. (literary, now uncommon) Alternative letter-case form of vulcanian, of or related to metalwork, blacksmithing, and metallurgy.
   • 1726, Alexander Pope & al., The Odyssey of Homer..., Book XIX:

     A sabre, when the warrior press'd to part,
     I gave enamel'd with Vulcanian art...

3. (geology, now rare, archaic) Alternative letter-case form of vulcanian, volcanic, of or related to volcanoes and volcanism.
   • 1642, Ralph Cudworth, A Discourse Concerning the True Notion of the Lords Supper, page 66:

     Solinus reports it of the Vulcanian Hill in Sicily, that they which offered Sacrifice upon it, never put fire to it, but expected it should be kindled from Heaven.

   1. (historical) Of or related to former theories attributing the origin of basalt and other crystalline minerals to subterranean fires.
      • 1803, Stephen Weston, Praise of Paris, page 58:

        In his six lectures on Volcanos, [Faujas] exhausted the subject, and showed us the difference of the several systems, the Vulcanian, the Neptunian, and the Huttonian, which is the Plutonian, and his own opinion.

      • 1870, Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, page 939:

        The Vulcanian or Plutonian theory, which ascribes the changes on earth's surface to the agency of fire.

   2. Of or related to volcanic eruptions or phases of a volcanic eruption when repeated explosions produce a thick ash cloud.
      • 1892 June 2, Nature, page 118:

        Just as we have the ‘Plinian’ or ‘Vesuvian’ eruptions of Vesuvius accompanied by violent outbursts of ‘ashes’ and welling out of lava, and the incessant, milder ‘Strombolian’ type of eruption, so we may distinguish a ‘Vulcanian’ type.

4. (astronomy) Of or related to the proposed planet Vulcan or a cluster of asteroids at the same location in the Solar System.

Synonyms

• (related to former geological theories): Plutonian, volcanian

Coordinate terms

• (related to former geological theories): Huttonian, Neptunian, Plutonian
• (stage of volcanic eruption): Peléan, Plinian, Strombolian, Vesuvian

Derived terms

• Vulcanian Islands

References

• “Vulcanian”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “Vulcanian, n. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.