serpente

Forms

serpente m (plural serpenti, relational adjective serpentino, augmentative serpentone, pejorative serpentaccio, diminutive-endearing serpentello)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin serpēns (“snake, serpent”), through its accusative, originally the present participle of serpō (“to crawl, creep”).^[2][3][4][1] The same word is French serpent, Occitan serpen, Catalan serpent, Spanish serpiente and Portuguese serpente; the DEI calls it pan-Romance.^[3][5]

The Latin verb continues Proto-Indo-European *serp- (“to creep”), with cognates in Ancient Greek ἕρπω (hérpō, “to creep, crawl”) and Albanian gjarpër (“snake”), and in Sanskrit, where a noun from the same root means “snake”.^[6][1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur, of the last quarter of the 12th century;^[8][2] DELI's is in Giacomo da Lentini, before 1250.^[8][2] The sense is the reptile with a long body and no legs.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

From the start the snake stood for evil: Old Italian used serpente for a wicked or impious person and for the devil, who tempted Eve in that shape.^[8] Dante describes a serpente con sei piè that seizes a thief in hell.^[9] Old texts also call the arms of the Visconti, a snake, serpente, and in astronomy it named a group of stars in the constellation of Serpentarius.^[8] DELI records the sense “malicious person” in Savonarola, before 1498.^[2]

The derivatives took the shape or colour of the animal: serpentina the old cannon, probably from French serpentine, is recorded in Rome in 1470;^[2] serpentino the green stone, for its colour, at the end of the 14th century;^[2] serpentino the spiral tube in 1875.^[2] In thieves' slang serpente meant a year, because it is long.^[10][5] The bass wind instrument called serpente is recorded in 1858, and German Serpent in 1876.^[11] More recent senses are the tanned skin (1965) and the European currency “snake” of 1972–1978.^[2][12]

Timeline

• Last quarter of the 12th century – First record, in the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur.^[8]
• Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses serpente.^[2][4]
• Before 1294 – Serpentino “of a snake” in Brunetto Latini.^[2]
• 1470 – Serpentina “cannon” in the Medieval Latin of Rome.^[2]
• Before 1498 – Savonarola uses serpente for a wicked person.^[2]
• 1838 – Serpentone is first recorded.^[3]
• 1858 – Serpente names a wind instrument.^[11]
• 1965 – The sense “snakeskin” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A snake, serpent: a legless reptile with a long scaly body, venomous or harmless.^[4][13][14]
2. snakeskin, the tanned skin used for bags, shoes and belts: una cintura di serpente.^[4][13][15]
3. (figurative) A treacherous, malicious person.^[4][13][15]
4. (religion) A symbol of the divine, of eternity or fertility; in Christian tradition the embodiment of evil, the devil.^[4][13][14]
5. A legendary monster in the shape of a huge snake.^[4]
6. (economics) The European currency snake, the system that limited fluctuations between currencies of the EEC from 1972 to 1978.^[12][14]
7. (music) The serpent, an old wind instrument with a mouthpiece.^[11][15]

Word family

• serpentario
• serpentino
• serpentina
• serpentone
• serpentello
• serpentiforme
• serpentaccio

Related words

• serpe
• serpere
• Latin serpō
• French serpent

Usage notes

Serpente di mare is a sea snake and, figuratively, a sensational but false news story;^[12][14][13] serpente a sonagli is the rattlesnake and serpente dagli occhiali the cobra.^[12][14][13] Serpente is also the present participle of serpere, used in old and literary Italian for something that creeps or winds.^[16][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3461
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
11. ^ a b c Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
16. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 18, 739