snake English · revision 6515

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=gem-pro *snakô}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sneɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|snaca]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*snakô]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) cognate with [[gml|snake]] and [[non|snákr]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) related to [[snail]] and to [[goh|snahhan|t=to creep]], from PIE [[ine-pro|*sneg-|t=to crawl]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ About 1000 in Barnhart and the OED, where Old English snaca translates Latin scorpio.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In modern English snake has gradually replaced [[serpent]] in popular use;^(Etymonline) it was traditionally the British grass snake as distinct from the venomous adder.^(Etymonline) A treacherous person is a snake from 1590, after Aesop's fable,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and ''snake in the grass'' translates Virgil's ''latet anguis in herba''.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) Snake-like devices are named from the 17th century.^(Etymonline) The verb, to twist hair, is from 1653, and to move or wind like a snake from 1848, in Bartlett's ''Dictionary of Americanisms''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''Snake eyes'', two ones in dice, is from 1919, and ''snakes and ladders'' is a board game.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – Old English snaca.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590 – a treacherous person.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1653 – the verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1848 – to move like a snake.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1919 – snake eyes.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long, limbless [[reptile]], some kinds of which have a [[venom|alt=venomous]] bite.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A treacherous or deceitful person.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A flexible tool for clearing blocked pipes.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To move or extend in a winding, twisting way.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[snakelike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[snail]]

+ * [[sneak]]

+ * [[serpent]]

+ * [[snaky]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}