serpent

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous
  2. noun a firework that moves in serpentine manner when ignited
  3. noun an obsolete bass cornet; resembles a snake

Etymology

From Middle English serpent, from Old French serpent (“snake, serpent”), from Latin serpēns (“snake”), present active participle of serpere (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-Italic *serpō, from Proto-Indo-European *serp-. In this sense, displaced native Old English nǣdre (“snake, serpent”), whence Modern English adder. Compare Sanskrit सर्प (sarpa, “snake”), which is a descendant of the same Proto-Indo-European word as serpent.

In classic literature

Synonyms

snake, ophidian

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