mamba English · revision 814
10 Oct 2026, 23:49 by bogdan “New entry from the dictionary sources (AHD, Barnhart, Etymonline, MW, OED, RHWU, Wiktionary, Hoad, MED, Word Origins)” current version
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+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈmæmbə/, /ˈmɑm.bɑ/^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[bor|zu|imamba]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) or perhaps [[sw|mamba]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A large, venomous African snake (by 1859 in Etymonline; 1862 in the OED, Barnhart and Merriam-Webster).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ A writer in the ''Journal of the Society of Arts'' in 1859 described the mamba as a “chasing snake” that would pursue a rider for a mile, rearing on its tail.^(Etymonline) The name now covers several species of the genus ''Dendroaspis'', chiefly tree-dwelling, including the green mamba and the black mamba.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1859 – ''mamba'' in an English journal.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1862 – first OED quotation.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # Any of several long, slender, venomous, chiefly [[arboreal]] green or black [[elapid]] snakes of the genus ''Dendroaspis'' of sub-Saharan Africa, whose bite is often fatal.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[cobra]]
+ * [[black mamba]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}