serpent

name

1. Synonym of Serpens (a constellation).
2. Synonym of Satan.

   “Quin, with the wisdom of the serpent, called for more drinks.”

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *serp- Proto-Indo-European *sérpeti Proto-Italic *serpō Latin serpō Latin serpēns Old French serpentbor. Middle English serpent English serpent 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.

1. A snake.

   “He falls into it, who has digg'd a Pit. Who breaks a Hedge is with a Serpent bit.”

   “Coiled up behind the shrub, […] was a green imamba, the most dreaded of all South African serpents.”

2. A subtle, treacherous, malicious person.

   “He is a very serpent in my way.”

   “'Dogs and serpents,' She began in a low voice that gradually gathered power as she went on, till the place rang with it. Eaters of human flesh, two things have ye done. First, ye have attacked these strangers, being white men, and would have slain their servant, and for that alone death is your reward.'”

3. An obsolete wind instrument in the brass family, whose shape is suggestive of a snake (Wikipedia article).
4. A kind of firework with a serpentine motion.
5. A snake-like monster, such as a dragon or sea serpent.

   “Then Beowulf too rallied. With his whetted dagger he slit a gash in the serpent's middle.”

verb

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *serp- Proto-Indo-European *sérpeti Proto-Italic *serpō Latin serpō Latin serpēns Old French serpentbor. Middle English serpent English serpent 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.

1. To wind or meander
2. To encircle.

   “fruit-trees, whose boles are serpented with excellent vines”