dragoon

…The mouth of hell, which frequently appears in medieval religious paintings, is often depicted as a dragon with its mouth wide open to swallow the souls of sinners. In the 17th century, an army equipped with firearms was organized, and was called a "dragon" due to its association with fire-breathing dragons. The large-caliber handguns they used were also called dragons. …

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "dragoon" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…中世の宗教画に頻出する地獄の口も，大口をあけて罪人の魂を飲みこむ竜の姿になっている例が多い。　なお17世紀に火器を装備した軍隊が組織されたが，火を吐く竜との連想から〈竜騎兵dragoon〉と呼ばれた。彼らが使用した大口径の短銃もドラゴン(竜騎銃)の名をもつ。…

※「dragoon」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報