Qiulong

This 虫 radical is typically used in Chinese characters for insects, worms, reptiles, and dragons (e.g., shen 蜃, jiao 蛟, and hong 虹).

Bernhard Karlgren reconstructed Old Chinese pronunciations of qiu < *g'yŏg or jiu < *kyŏg for 虯 "horned dragon" and 觓 "horn-shaped; long and curved".

Carr follows Karlgren's reconstructions and suggests qiu < *g'yŏg or jiu < *kyŏg 虯 is "part of a 'twist; coil; wrap' word family"[2] that includes: This "twisting; coiling" etymology can explain both the meanings "horned dragon; twisted horns" and "curling; wriggling" below.

The standard Sibu Beiyao 四部備要 edition gives the character as 虬 instead of 虯. Qiu is a dragon name in four contexts.

The fourth uses qiu 虬 alone; "With team of dragons I mount the heavens, In ivory chariot borne aloft.

Carr notes the discrepancy of three Shuowen definitions for "hornless dragon": qiu 虯, jiao 蛟, and chi 螭.

"[12] The c. 100 BCE Shiji "Records of the Grand Historian" biography of Sima Xiangru quotes his fu 賦 poem entitled Zixu 子虛 "Sir Fantasy".

"[19] One uses liuqiu 蟉虬 with chi 螭 "hornless dragon": "They lined water monsters up to join them in the dance: How their bodies coiled and writhed in undulating motion!

Assuming trans-cultural diffusion, MacKenzie suggests that the Chinese "horned-dragon, or horned-serpent" derives from the Egyptian Osiris "water-serpent".

[22] In Babylonian mythology, the deity Marduk supposedly rode a horned dragon when he defeated Tiamat, and it became his emblem.