viper

See also: Viper and VIPer

English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle French vipere, from Old French vipre, from Latin vīpera, contracted from vīvipara f (“viviparous”, adj.), from vivus (“alive”, adj.) +‎ parere (“to bear”, verb). Doublet of weever and wyvern.

Pronunciation edit

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈvaɪpɚ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -aɪpə(ɹ)

Noun edit

viper (plural vipers)

A venomous snake in the family Viperidae.
Synonym: adder
(informal) Any venomous snake.
(figurative) A dangerous, treacherous, or malignant person.
- 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 62:
  And aggravate my folly who committed / To ſuch a viper his moſt ſacred truſt / Of ſecreſie, my ſafety, and my life.
- 1879, Francis Beaumont, The Works of Beaumont and Fletcher: The Text Formed from a New Collation of the Early Editions, Volume 1, D. Appleton, page 350:
  Consider, for the love of Heaven, to what you run madly: will you take this viper into your bed?
(slang) A person who smokes marijuana.
- a. 1936, Stuff Smith (lyrics and music), “If You're a Viper”:
  Dreamed about a reefer five feet long / Mighty Mezz, but not too strong / You'll be high but not for long / If you're a viper
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:viper.

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

a poisonous snake in the family Viperidae

Afrikaans: adder (af)
Albanian: shlligë (sq), nepërkë (sq) f, rrëshajë (sq) f
Arabic: أفعى
Aramaic:
Hebrew: אכדנא f (’ekidnā’)

Syriac: ܐܟܕܢܐ f (’ekidnā’)
Armenian: իժ (hy) (iž)
Aromanian: vipirã f
Azerbaijani: gürzə
Belarusian: гадзю́ка f (hadzjúka)
Bulgarian: усойница (bg) f (usojnica), пепеля́нка (bg) f (pepeljánka)
Catalan: escurçó (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 毒蛇 (zh) (dúshé), 蝰蛇 (zh) (kuíshé)
Czech: zmije (cs) f
Dalmatian: carnoit m
Demotic: fꜣy (fay)
Dutch: adder (nl)
Esperanto: vipero (eo), vipuro (eo)
Estonian: rästik (et)
Finnish: kyy (fi), kyykäärme (fi)
Franco-Provençal: crotâl m, vipèro m
French: vipère (fr) f
Friulian: lipare f, vipare f
Galician: víbora (gl) f
Georgian: გველგესლა (gvelgesla), გველი (ka) (gveli)
German: Kreuzotter (de) f, Otter (de) f, Viper (de) f
Greek: έχιδνα (el) f (échidna), οχιά (el) f (ochiá)
Ancient: ἔχιδνα f (ékhidna)
Hebrew: צפע (he) m (tséfa)
Hindi: वाइपर m (vāipar)
Hungarian: vipera (hu)
Icelandic: höggormur (is) m
Ido: vipero (io)
Indonesian: beludak (id)
Ingrian: jaadumato, kirjava mato, gadjukka
Irish: nathair f
Istriot: beîpara f
Italian: vipera (it) f
Japanese: 毒蛇 (ja) (どくへび, doku-hebi), クサリヘビ (kusari-hebi), 鎖蛇 (ja) (くさりへび, kusari-hebi)
Korean: 독사(毒蛇) (ko) (doksa)
Latin: vipera f
Latvian: odze
Lithuanian: angis f
Low German: Adder (nds) f; Krüüzadder f, Kriizadder f
Macedonian: отровница f (otrovnica)
Maltese: lifgħa
Middle English: vipera
Norwegian: huggorm n
Persian: گرزه‌مار (garze-mâr), گرزه (fa) (garze)
Piedmontese: vipra f
Polish: żmija (pl) f
Portuguese: víbora (pt) f
Romanian: năpârcă (ro) f, viperă (ro)
Romansch: vipra f
Russian: гадю́ка (ru) f (gadjúka)
Sanskrit: पृदाकु (sa) m (pṛdāku)
Slovene: gad m
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: zmija f
Spanish: víbora (es) f
Swedish: huggorm (sv) c
Tagalog: ulupong
Tocharian B: arṣāklo
Turkish: engerek (tr)
Ukrainian: гадю́ка f (hadjúka)
Welsh: gwiber f, neidr ddu f
West Frisian: njirre c

adder — see adder