785: draconian Jan 31, 2017

When you hear the word 'draconian' meaning, 'excessively harsh laws' this may remind you of all sorts of things, but it should not remind you of dragons. While the adjective comes the Greek name Drakōn, the root of which is 'draco', this is not the same as the word for 'serpent'. Instead, the word comes from the name of the first recorded Athenian legislator, Draco in Ancient Greece. He is know for replacing the existing code of law that only existed orally with written laws only that could only be in a law court. Before this, people took retributive action largely individually. The laws put in place were decided by the democratic rulings but his punishments were notably severe.

For more on the other sense of Draco, see this.