here be dragons
Meaning
Phrase
- By extension, used to indicate that which is unknown or uncertain, particularly if it seems to carry some type of risk.
Related
Similar words
- here be monsters
- there be dragons
Origin
- Evidence of the use of this term as a notation on actual historical maps is lacking. The only known appearance of an equivalent phrase in any language on a historical map is of Latin hic sunt dracones, placed on the east coast of Asia, on the Hunt-Lenox Globe, which dates from c. 1510. The phrase is simply a variation on HIC SVNT LEONES ("here are lions"), the classical phrase used by medieval cartographers to denote unknown territories on maps.
Modern English dictionary
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