Goodreads Facebook Twitter RSS Feed

The Blogging From A to Z April Challenge: D is for Dreadnought

Wednesday, 4 April 2012

My posts in the The Blogging From A to Z April Challenge are all about interesting words. Words that are weird, intriguing, poetic or just plain cool.



D is for Dreadnought

Sounds like a great name for a steampunk superhero, but actually the name of a Royal Navy battleship. In fact, there have been Dreadnoughts in the British Royal Navy since 1553 but "the" Dreadnought was launched in 1906.

This ship's radical design (its heavy guns and the steam turbines driving it) proved to be such a success that its name came to be used for an entire generation of battleships. And from there, the word came to mean anyone or anything fearless and unstoppable.

The word crops up quite frequently in SF - e.g. as the name of ships in both Star Trek and Farscape.



Archaeopteryx Blunderbuss Chthonic Dreadnought

Posted by Simon Kewin at 08:00

24 comments:

  1. Old Kitty4 April 2012 at 11:10

    Is HMS Belfast a dreadnought!??! Cos I've been on it! Yay! Take care
    x

    ReplyDelete
  2. StratPlayerCJF4 April 2012 at 14:16

    Revealing that I am indeed a nerd, I used to play "Star Fleet Battles" based on the Star Trek universe and in that game, dreadnoughts were huge, intimidating star ships, lol!

    Another great word post, Simon!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Simon Kewin4 April 2012 at 14:57

    Old Kitty - i don't think it is. But I could be wrong.

    Chris - they were indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hilary Melton-Butcher4 April 2012 at 15:15

    Hi Simon .. your Chthonic .. is a good word - for Scrabble .. but I guess for SF writers too - excellent word to know about ..

    Now D for Dreadnought .. it was one of those ships wasn't it instilling fear and dread and thus its name passed into common usage ..

    Cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  5. Simon Kewin4 April 2012 at 15:28

    Hilary - it is a good Scrabble word. Don't think I've ever played it, though!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous4 April 2012 at 15:48

    Steampunk hero? Agreed. This is a great series, Simon!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Simon Kewin4 April 2012 at 15:57

    Thanks, Milo. More steampunky words to come!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Debra Harris-Johnson4 April 2012 at 16:34

    I love that name it would fit as the name for a creepy hotel.
    dreamweaver

    ReplyDelete
  9. Simon Kewin4 April 2012 at 16:43

    Debra - oh yes, that would be cool.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Boric Glanduum4 April 2012 at 17:55

    I'm right on board with the idea of the Mighty Dreadnought, pummeling his way into the history books.

    Great post. I look forward to more A-Z goodness this month!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Michelle Wallace4 April 2012 at 18:14

    A great selection of words! Thanks for the vocabulary lesson.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Simon Kewin4 April 2012 at 18:24

    Boric - yeah, I can see Dwarfs would go for them!

    Michelle - thanks - and for yours, too.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous4 April 2012 at 20:16

    This is one fun blog to visit during the challenge. How do you find your words?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Victoria Jicha4 April 2012 at 20:30

    I learned a new word from your post today.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lauren4 April 2012 at 20:43

    I love that name - "dreadnought". It could be an entire sentence by itself.

    Dread nought.

    It's a great name for a ship - presuming that it means the people on board should dread nought, and not the enemy ships. :)

    - Lauren @Word Art

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nicole4 April 2012 at 20:51

    Ever since Cherie Priest's book by this name, I've loved this word...and I haven't even read the book yet. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Golden Eagle4 April 2012 at 21:30

    Interesting! 1553? That's a long time for one name.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Think Positive, Be Positive4 April 2012 at 21:36

    Cool word...fun A to Z Challenge...good luck...I'm a new follower

    Donna Martin
    www.donasdays.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. Gail M Baugniet - Author5 April 2012 at 02:04

    Learning new words, their meanings, and the history behind them is my idea of entertainment. Thanks for this interesting trifecta.
    http://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com Theme: A World of Crime

    ReplyDelete
  20. Precy Larkins5 April 2012 at 03:33

    I've not read enough sci-fi to recognize the word. Pretty cool, though. :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Simon Kewin5 April 2012 at 04:21

    Sabrina - They're just words I've come across and been fascinated by really.

    Nicole - Yep, a book I must read too...

    Thanks for dropping by all! I'll be on over to yours ASAP.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Rob and Lisa5 April 2012 at 04:57

    Love the words you have chosen so far for the challenge.

    Lisa
    http://livethemoment09.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  23. Unknown5 April 2012 at 06:06

    I'm loving today's word and your theme! I agree with it sounding like a creepy hotel. I also picture it as a gothic club. Very cool, thanks for the post and the visit to my site!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Simon Kewin5 April 2012 at 14:41

    Thanks, Rob, Lisa and Michael - heading on over to yours too ...

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to know what you think.