Italian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Latin serpere (to creep, crawl), from Proto-Italic *serpō, from Proto-Indo-European *sérp-e-ti ~ *sérp-onti, thematic root present of *serp- (to creep, crawl). Cognate with Greek έρπω (érpo, to crawl, creep).

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

sèrpere (first-person singular present sèrpo, no past historic, no past participle)

  1. (literary, intransitive, chiefly figurative) to snake (to follow or move in a winding route)
    Synonym: serpeggiare
    • 1840, Alessandro Manzoni, “Capitolo XXXI [Chapter 31]”, in I promessi sposi[1], Tip. Guglielmini e Redaelli, page 591:
      andò covando e serpendo lentamente, tutto il restante dell’anno, e ne’ primi mesi del susseguente 1630.
      [the contagion] went on lurking and creeping for the rest of the year, and the first months of the following 1630

Usage notes edit

  • The verb lacks the past participle form and the compound tenses.

Conjugation edit

Related terms edit

Further reading edit

  • serpere in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin edit

Verb edit

serpere

  1. present active infinitive of serpō