louhikäärme

Partial calque of Old Swedish floghdraki,^[1][2][3] (from Old West Norse flugdreki (“fly-dragon”)); compound of louhi- +‎ käärme (“serpent”), with serpent meaning dragon, in accordance with old Germanic nomenclature; compare Old Swedish ormber, Old Norse ormr, Old English wyrm, Old High German wurm (“worm → serpent → dragon”); even Latin dracō (“dragon”) stems from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn), originally meaning “big serpent”.

The initial component may have folk-etymologically been associated with the rare archaic louhi (“thunder”), itself possibly from Germanic (compare Old Norse leygr), with louhia (“to mine”), in reference to mountains or rocky ground where the dragons supposedly lived, or (unlikely) with lovi (“cleft, crack”) (to the "crackling sound" of thunder). Furthermore, it later became lohi (“salmon”) by folk etymology, becoming lohikäärme.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlou̯hiˌkæːrmeˣ/, [ˈlo̞u̯ɦiˌk̟æːrme̞(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -æːrme
• Syllabification^(key): lou‧hi‧käär‧me
• Hyphenation^(key): louhi‧käärme

louhikäärme (archaic)

1. (folklore) a type of Nordic flying dragon which looks like a streak of light when it flies across the skies, and which burrows into mountains where it dwells
2. alternative form of lohikäärme