A drake - artwork by Francis Tai (for Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual IV)- note that it has dragonlike features, four legs and no wings.
The word drake is sometimes used synonymous to dragon, but it could also mean a specific kind of dragon. There are different opinions on what a drake is:
- Any kind of wingless, four-legged dragon
- A small or young dragon, those are also called dragonlings, wyrmlings or dragonet
These classifications stem from modern fantasy and are not found in classical mythology. Sometimes they overlap, because according to Jennifer Walker, there are two kinds of drakes, fire-drakes and cold-drakes. Fire drakes have a fire breath and fiery colors like red or orange. Cold drakes however breathe frost breath and are white or light blue. This classification is most likely based on Tolkiens works, where fire drakes and cold drakes are a way to classify if a dragon could breathe fire or not. Cold drakes simply couldn't breathe fire, but had no connection to ice.
In mythology and language, drake or drac is often the word for 'dragon', as dragon was derived from drakon.