ˈsea-ˌserpent
1. a. Any ophidian inhabiting the sea; esp. any of the venomous snakes of the order Hydrophidæ, inhabiting the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean.
| 1671 Phil. Trans. VI. 3093 There are Serpents in Ceylon, which they call Sea-Serpents, 8, 9, or 10 Ells long; (I suppose he speaks of Dutch measure). 1674 J. Josselyn Two Voy. New-Eng. 23 They told me..of a Sea-Serpent or Snake, that lay quoiled up like a Cable upon a Rock at Cape-Ann. 1859–62 Sir J. Richardson, etc. Mus. Nat. Hist. (1868) II. 49 The Sea or Pelagic Serpents (Hydrina) are not very numerous in species. |
b. the (great) sea-serpent: a sea-monster of serpentine form and great length, frequently reported to have been seen at sea.
For conjectures as to the origin of the belief in the sea- serpent, see Encycl. Brit. (1886) XXI. 608–9.
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 193 To believe all that has been said of the sea-serpent, or the Kraken, would be credulity. 1820 Bigelow in Amer. Jrnl. Sci. II. 147–164. |
| fig. 1885 Western Daily Press 6 Jan. 3/2 The affair, in short, has turned out to be the liveliest political ‘sea serpent’ seen for some time. |
2. Applied to various fishes. † a. A kind of eel or muræna found in the Mediterranean. † b. = ellops 2. c. The king of the herrings, Regalecus glesne.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. iii. xxiv. 169 Many there be which make out their nominations, as the Hedg-hog, Sea⁓serpents, and others. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Isagoge a 6 b, The Linge,..tunie,..sea-serpent, conger [etc.]. 1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling ii. lxxix. 201 The Sea-Serpent..is commonly about five Foot long..is taken very frequently in the Mediterranean. 1752 J. Hill Hist. Anim. 237 The cylindrick Muræna, with the tail naked and acute. The Sea-serpent... It is frequent in the Mediterranean. 1774 [see ellops 2]. 1851 A. White List Brit. Fish Brit. Mus. 40 Regalecus Glesne. King of the Herrings... Sea Serpent. |
3. = sea-snake 3.
| 1891 in Century Dict. |
4. (See quot.)
| 1831 Scott Ct. Rob. ii, Others navigated the Mediterranean in their sea-serpents, as they termed their piratical vessels. |
Hence sea-serpentism nonce-wd.
| 1877 Owen in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. XXXIII. 699 The advocate for the sea-serpentism of the extinct Mosasauroids determines the pterygoids to be the palatines. |