serpent
English edit
Etymology edit
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 English serpent.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɜːpənt/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɝpənt/
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: ser‧pent
Noun edit
serpent (plural serpents)
- (now literary) A snake, especially a large or dangerous one.
- 1712, A. Hill, chapter 9, in The Book of Ecclesiastes Paraphrased. A Divine Poem.[1], Newcastle upon Tyne: J. White, page 38:
- He falls into it, who has digg'd a Pit.
Who breaks a Hedge is with a Serpent bit.
- 1879, Charles H. Eden, chapter III, in Ula, in Veldt and Laager: A Tale of the Zulus.[2], copyright edition, Hamburg: Karl Grädener, page 45:
- Coiled up behind the shrub, […] was a green imamba, the most dreaded of all South African serpents.
- (figurative) A subtle, treacherous, malicious person.
- c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
- He is a very serpent in my way.
- 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
- 'Dogs and serpents,' She began in a low voice that gradually gathered power as she went on, till the place rang with it. Eaters of human flesh, two things have ye done. First, ye have attacked these strangers, being white men, and would have slain their servant, and for that alone death is your reward.'
- (music) An obsolete wind instrument in the brass family, whose shape is suggestive of a snake (Wikipedia article).
- A kind of firework with a serpentine motion.
Synonyms edit
Hyponyms edit
Meronyms edit
Holonyms edit
Derived terms edit
- fiery serpent
- serpentarium (noun)
- serpenticidal (adjective)
- serpenticide (noun)
- serpenticone (noun)
- serpenticonic (adjective)
- serpentist (noun)
- serpentize (verb)
- serpentkind (noun)
- serpentlike (adjective)
- serpentry (noun)
- serpopard (noun)
Related terms edit
- Serpens (proper noun)
- serpentiform (adjective)
- serpentigenous (adjective)
- serpentine (adj/noun/verb)
Translations edit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb edit
serpent (third-person singular simple present serpents, present participle serpenting, simple past and past participle serpented)
- (obsolete, intransitive) To wind or meander
- (obsolete, transitive) To encircle.
- 1645 February 10 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for January 31 1645]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC:
- fruit-trees, whose boles are serpented with excellent vines
See also edit
Anagrams edit
Catalan edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Latin serpentem, from serpō (“crawl, creep”).
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): (Central) [sərˈpen]
- IPA(key): (Balearic) [sərˈpent]
- IPA(key): (Valencian) [seɾˈpent]
Audio (Valencian) (file)
Noun edit
serpent m or f (plural serpents)
Dutch edit
Etymology edit
From Middle Dutch serpent, from Old French serpent (“snake, serpent”), from Latin serpēns (“snake”), from the verb serpō (“I creep, crawl”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
serpent n or f or m (plural serpenten, diminutive serpentje n)
- (formal, dated) snake
- Synonym: slang
- (formal) serpent, serpentine dragon, large snake
- Synonym: slang
- an unpleasant, spiteful or foulmouthed person, especially used of women
- Synonym: slang
Noun edit
serpent f (plural serpenten, diminutive serpentje n)
Descendants edit
- → West Frisian: serpint
Anagrams edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Middle French serpent, from Old French serpent, from Latin serpentem, accusative form of serpēns, from serpō (“crawl, creep”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
serpent m (plural serpents, feminine serpente)
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- “serpent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams edit
Latin edit
Verb edit
serpent
Middle French edit
Etymology edit
From Old French serpent, from Latin serpentem, accusative singular form of serpēns.
Noun edit
serpent m (plural serpenz)
Descendants edit
- French: serpent
Old French edit
Etymology edit
From Latin serpēns, serpentem.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
serpent oblique singular, m (oblique plural serpenz or serpentz, nominative singular serpenz or serpentz, nominative plural serpent)
Descendants edit
Romanian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French serpent or English serpent.
Noun edit
serpent n (plural serpente)
Declension edit
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
nominative/accusative | (un) serpent | serpentul | (niște) serpente | serpentele |
genitive/dative | (unui) serpent | serpentului | (unor) serpente | serpentelor |
vocative | serpentule | serpentelor |
Romansch edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Latin serpēns, serpentem.
Noun edit
serpent m (plural serpents)