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serpent

noun
/ˈsɜːpənt/UK/ˈsɝpənt/US

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *serp- Proto-Indo-European *sérpeti Proto-Italic *serpō Latin serpō Latin serpēns Old French serpentbor. Middle English serpent English serpent From Middle English serpent, from Old French serpent (“snake, serpent”), from Latin serpēns (“snake”), present active participle of serpere (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-Italic *serpō, from Proto-Indo-European *serp-. In this sense, displaced native Old English nǣdre (“snake, serpent”), whence Modern English adder. Compare Sanskrit सर्प (sarpa, “snake”), which is a descendant of the same Proto-Indo-European word as serpent.

  1. derived from *serp-✻
  2. derived from *serpō✻
  3. derived from serpēns
  4. derived from serpent
  5. inherited from serpent

Definitions

  1. A snake, especially a large or dangerous one.

    • He falls into it, who has digg'd a Pit. Who breaks a Hedge is with a Serpent bit.
    • Coiled up behind the shrub, […] was a green imamba, the most dreaded of all South African serpents.
    • Any serpent six feet long looks formidable; and over that length, one takes on the aspect of a chimera.

  2. A subtle, treacherous, malicious person.

    • He is a very serpent in my way.

  3. An obsolete wind instrument in the brass family, whose shape is suggestive of a snake…

    An obsolete wind instrument in the brass family, whose shape is suggestive of a snake (Wikipedia article).

  4. ›+ 6 more definitions

    1. A kind of firework with a serpentine motion.

    2. A snake-like monster, such as a dragon or sea serpent.

      • Then Beowulf too rallied. With his whetted dagger he slit a gash in the serpent's middle.

    3. To wind or meander

    4. To encircle.

      • fruit-trees, whose boles are serpented with excellent vines

    5. Synonym of Serpens (a constellation).

    6. Synonym of Satan.

      • Quin, with the wisdom of the serpent, called for more drinks.

The neighborhood

Derived

serpent cucumber, serpent eagle, serpent-eater, serpent gourd, serpent-grass, serpent radish, serpent seed, serpent star, serpent's tongue, serpentwood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for serpent. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA