serpent

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English serpent, also sarpent,^[2] borrowed from Old French serpent, also sarpent,^[3][4][2][5] and directly borrowed from Latin serpēns (“snake; creeping thing”).^[4][2] The Latin noun is the present participle of serpō (“to creep”) used as a noun,^[5][3][6][7] from Proto-Italic *serpō,^[1] from Proto-Indo-European *serp- (“to crawl, creep”).^[3][4][1] It is cognate with Sanskrit सर्प (sarpá, “snake”),^[1][7][4] Ancient Greek ἕρπω (hérpō, “to creep”), the source of herpes and herpetology,^[6][5][7] ἑρπετόν (herpetón, “creeping animal, serpent”)^[7][4] and Albanian gjarpër (“snake”).^[4][7][3] Klein thinks the Latin verb is probably not related to rēpō (“to creep”), the source of reptile.^[7] The Latin word also gave Italian serpente and Spanish serpiente.^[5] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from 1113–19.^[8] In the sense "snake" it displaced the native Old English nǣdre (“snake, serpent”), the source of adder.^[1] The verb (1606) is borrowed from French serpenter, from the noun.^[5][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The serpent that tempted Eve in Genesis, the Devil: before 1300, in the Fall and Passion.^[5] A limbless reptile, a snake: about 1305, in the Land of Cokaygne.^[5] Barnhart dates the word before 1300,^[4] Etymonline about 1300, with both senses.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word covered any creeping or venomous creature, and the MED includes reptiles and the scorpion;^[2][5] that wider sense lasted until the late 17th century.^[5] Chaucer used it 19 times,^[11] already as a symbol of envy and malice (about 1374) and in phrases on the serpent's guile.^[5] From 1600, in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, it was used of a treacherous person.^[5] Its use for spiral or winding things includes a bass wind instrument with a twisting tube, recorded from 1730 in Etymonline,^[3] the 18th century in Hoad.^[12] The medieval belief that the serpent's tongue was its "sting" lies behind serpent's tongue for stinging speech.^[3][5] The Century Dictionary (1902), quoted by Etymonline, judged serpent and snake to mean the same, serpent being the more formal word;^[3] Collins now calls it a literary or dialect word for a snake.^[13]

Timeline

• before 1300 – the serpent of Genesis, the Devil.^[5]
• c. 1305 – a snake.^[5]
• c. 1374 – a symbol of envy, malice or cunning.^[5]
• 1388 – a representation of a serpent.^[5]
• c. 1440 – any creeping or venomous creature (obsolete by 1691).^[5]
• 1556 – the constellation Hydra (obsolete by 1674).^[5]
• 1599 – the constellation Serpens.^[5]
• 1600 – a treacherous, malicious person.^[5]
• 1606 – verb, to wind like a serpent.^[5]
• 1608 – a sea monster like a serpent.^[5]
• 1730 – a bass wind instrument.^[3]
• 1895 – a pale green fashion shade.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A snake, especially a large one.^[13][10][5]
2. the Serpent: the tempter of Eve in Genesis; Satan, the devil.^[13][10][5]
3. A sly, treacherous or malicious person: She had trusted a serpent in her own household.^[13][10][5]
4. A sea serpent.^[10][5]
5. A figure of a serpent, used as an ornament or symbol.^[10][5]
6. An old bass wind instrument with a winding tube, related to the cornett.^[13][12][3]
7. A firework that moves along with a winding motion when lit.^[13]
8. (archaic) Any creeping, hissing or stinging creature, such as a crocodile or a toad.^[10][5]

Verb

1. (rare) To wind or move like a serpent: The river serpents through the marsh.^[10][5][9]

Word family

• serpentarium
• serpent star

Related words

• Serpens
• serpentiform
• serpentine
• herpes
• herpetology
• reptile
• adder

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
7. ^ a b c d e f Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
12. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins