serpent

Definition

A snake, especially a large or dangerous one.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *serp- Proto-Indo-European *sérpeti Proto-Italic *serpō Proto-Italic *serpents 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.

Example Sentences

• "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."

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