cobra English · revision 1561

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing, clipping|attested=1802}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkəʊbɹə/, /ˈkɒbɹə/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkoʊbɹə/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is short for [[m|en|cobra capello]] (1671),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[bor|pt|cobra de capello|t=snake with a hood]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(MW Word Histories) from [[m|pt|cobra|t=snake]], from [[la|colubra|t=snake, female serpent]], feminine of [[m|la|coluber|t=snake]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Klein 1966) and [[m|pt|capello|t=hood]], from [[la-vul|*cappellus|t=little cape]], diminutive of [[la-lat|cappa]] (see [[cape]]).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Hoad 1986)^(MW Word Histories) The origin of the Latin word is uncertain;^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) de Vaan suggests a link with [[la|colus|t=distaff]], as an animal that winds around its own axis.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The venomous hooded snake of India and neighbouring regions (1802 as ''cobra'';^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(MWU 2024) the full ''cobra de capello'' is first recorded in 1668 according to Merriam-Webster's ''Word Histories'').^(MW Word Histories)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ After Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in 1498, the Portuguese met a snake that could spread the skin of its neck into a hood.^(MW Word Histories) The local name was [[hi|नाग|tr=nāg]],^(MW Word Histories)^(Weekley 1921) but the Portuguese called it the “hooded snake”.^(MW Word Histories) The full name was borrowed into English in the 17th century and shortened to ''cobra'' by the 19th.^(MW Word Histories)^(Barnhart 1995) The name was later extended to related African snakes^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) and, in commerce, to leather made from cobra skin.^(AHD)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1668 – ''cobra de capello''.^(MW Word Histories)

+ * 1671 – ''cobra capello''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1802 – ''cobra''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1817 – first quotation in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Any of several highly [[venomous]] Asian and African [[elapid]] snakes, chiefly of the genus ''Naja'', that spread the skin of the neck into a [[hood]] when excited.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any of several related snakes, such as the [[king cobra]] or the ringhals.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Collins 2023)

+ # [[leather|alt=Leather]] made from the skin of a cobra.^(AHD)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cape]]

+ * [[chapel]]

+ * [[naga]]

+ * [[mongoose]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}