# serpent
## English
### Etymology

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.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈsɜːpənt/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈsɝpənt/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: ser‧pent

### Noun

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.‎, 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.‎, copyright edition, Hamburg: Karl Grädener, page 45:Coiled up behind the shrub, […] was a green imamba, the most dreaded of all South African serpents.
** 1946 October, Archibald Rutledge, “Along Nature's Trail”, in Boys' Life‎, volume 36, number 10, Boy Scouts of America, Inc., →ISSN, page 40:Any serpent six feet long looks formidable; and over that length, one takes on the aspect of a chimera.
* (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

* adder (obsolete in some senses)
* edder (dialectal variant)
* snake
* ophidian
* remora (heraldry)

#### Hyponyms

* Airavata
* amaru
* amphiptere
* amphisbaena
* Da
* ouroboros
* sea serpent
* Pharaoh's serpent

#### Meronyms

* rattle
* snakeskin
* spire

#### Holonyms

* reptile

#### Derived terms

* fiery serpent
* serpentarium (noun)
* serpenticidal (adjective)
* serpenticide (noun)
* serpenticone (noun)
* serpenticonic (adjective)
* serpentist (noun)
* serpentize (verb)
* serpentkind (noun)
* serpentlike (adjective)
* serpentry (noun)
* serpopard (noun)
* serpent cucumber
* serpent eagle
* serpent-eater
* serpent gourd
* serpent-grass
* serpent radish
* serpent seed
* serpent star
* serpent's tongue
* serpentwood

#### Related terms

* Serpens (proper noun)
* serpentiform (adjective)
* serpentigenous (adjective)
* serpentine (adj/noun/verb)

#### Translations

Arabic: ثُعْبَان m (ṯuʕbān), حَنَش m (ḥanaš), حَيَّة f (ḥayya), أَفْعَى f (ʔafʕā)
Egyptian Arabic: تعبان m (tiʕbān)
Armenian: օձ (hy) (ōj)
Azerbaijani: ilan (az)
Breton: naer (br) f, sarpant (br) m
Bulgarian: змия (bg) f (zmija)
Catalan: serpent (ca) f, serp (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 蛇 (se$^4$)
Mandarin: 蛇 (zh) (shé)
Chuukese: serepenit
Czech: had (cs) m
Danish: slange (da) c
Dutch: serpent (nl) n, slang (nl) f
Egyptian: (ḥfꜣw m)
English:
Middle English: addere, naddere
Old English: nædre, nǣddre
Esperanto: serpento (eo)
Finnish: käärme (fi)
French: serpent (fr) m
Friulian: sarpint m
Galician: serpe (gl) f, bicha f
Georgian: გველი (ka) (gveli)
German: Schlange (de) f, (poetic) Wurm (de) m
Greek: ερπετό (el) n (erpetó), φίδι (el) n (fídi)
Ancient: ὄφις m (óphis), ἑρπετόν n (herpetón)
Hebrew: נָחָשׁ (he) m (nakhásh), שָׂרָף (he) m (saraf)
Hungarian: kígyó (hu)
Icelandic: höggormur (is) m, naðra (is) f
Indonesian: ular (id)
Italian: serpente (it) m, serpe (it) f
Japanese: 蛇 (ja) (へび, hebi)
Kashmiri: سَرُپھ (saruph), سَرُف (saruf)
Korean: 뱀 (ko) (baem)
Latin: serpēns (la), coluber m, anguis (la) m
Latvian: čūska (lv) f
Lutshootseed: bə́c'əc
Macedonian: зми́ја (mk) f (zmíja)
Manx: ardnieu m, aarnieu m
Maori: nākahi
Nahuatl: coatl (nah)
Occitan: sèrp (oc) m
Ojibwe: ginebig
Oromo: bofa
Persian: مار (fa) (mâr), اربد (arbad)
Plautdietsch: Schlang f
Polish: wąż (pl) m
Portuguese: serpente (pt) f
Quechua: amaru
Romanian: șarpe (ro) m
Russian: змея́ (ru) (zmejá)
Sanskrit: सर्प (sa) m (sarpa), अहि (sa) m (ahi)
Serbo-Croatian:
Roman: zmija (sh) f, guja (sh) f
Spanish: serpiente (es) f, (archaic) sierpe (es) f
Swahili: joka (sw)
Swedish: orm (sv) c
Tatar: елан (tt) (yelan)
Tocharian B: sarpe
Turkish: yılan (tr)
Ugaritic: 𐎐𐎈𐎌 (nḥš), 𐎁𐎘𐎐 (bṯn)
Volapük: snek (vo)
Walloon: sierpint (wa) m
Welsh: sarff (cy) f
Yiddish: שלאַנג f (shlang) :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Verb

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

* herpetology
* lizard
* reptile
* snake

### Anagrams

* penster, present, repents, respent

## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Latin serpentem, from serpō (“crawl, creep”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [sərˈpen]
* IPA: (Balearic) [sərˈpent]
* IPA: (Valencia) [seɾˈpent]
* Audio (Valencia):(file)

### Noun

serpent m or f (plural serpents)
* snake
    Synonym: serp

## Dutch
### Etymology

From Middle Dutch serpent, from Old French serpent (“snake, serpent”), from Latin serpēns (“snake”), from the verb serpō (“I creep, crawl”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛrˈpɛnt/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: ser‧pent
* Rhymes: -ɛnt

### Noun

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

serpent f (plural serpenten, diminutive serpentje n)
* (music) serpent (wind instrument)

#### Descendants

* → West Frisian: serpint

### Anagrams

* persten, strepen

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Middle French serpent, from Old French serpent, from Latin serpentem, accusative form of serpēns, from serpō (“crawl, creep”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /sɛʁ.pɑ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

serpent m (plural serpents, feminine serpente)
* snake

#### Derived terms

* c’est le serpent qui se mord la queue
* serpent à lunettes
* serpent à plumes
* serpent à sonnettes
* serpent corail
* serpent de mer
* serpent d’eau
* serpenter

### Further reading

* “serpent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* présent

## Latin
### Verb

serpent
* third-person plural future active indicative of serpō

## Middle French
### Etymology

From Old French serpent, from Latin serpentem, accusative singular form of serpēns.

### Noun

serpent m (plural serpenz)
* snake

#### Descendants

* French: serpent

## Old French
### Etymology

From Latin serpēns, serpentem.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /serˈpẽnt/, (later) /serˈpãnt/

### Noun

serpent oblique singular, m (oblique plural serpenz or serpentz, nominative singular serpenz or serpentz, nominative plural serpent)
* snake

#### Descendants

* Middle French: serpent
** French: serpent
* Walloon: sierpint
* → Middle English: serpent
** English: serpent
* → Dutch: serpent

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French serpent or English serpent.

### Noun

serpent n (plural serpente)
* (music) serpent

#### Declension
## Romansch
### Alternative forms

* serpaint (Vallader)

### Etymology

From Latin serpēns, serpentem.

### Noun

serpent m (plural serpents)
* (Surmiran) snake

#### Synonyms

* (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter, Vallader) serp
* (Sursilvan) siarp
* (Sutsilvan) zearp
* (Surmiran) zerp