▪ I. serpent, n.
(ˈsɜːpənt)
Also 6 sarpent; 4–6 pl. Sc. serpens.
[a. OF. (mod.F.) serpent = Pr. sarpent, Sp. serpiente, It., Pg. serpente:—L. serpent-em, serpens creeping thing (e.g. a louse), serpent, properly pres. pple. of serpĕre to creep, cogn. with Gr. ἕρπειν to creep, Skr. sṛp to creep, crawl, sarpa creeping, crawling, snake.]
1. a. Any of the scaly limbless reptiles regarded as having the properties of hissing and ‘stinging’; Zool. a reptile of the group ophidia; a snake; now, in ordinary use, applied chiefly to the larger and more venomous species; otherwise only rhetorical (e.g. in contexts suggesting senses 2 and 3), or with reference to serpent-worship.
| c 1305 Land Cokayne 157 Þer nis serpent, wolf no fox. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1497 She told eek..of the holy serpent, and the welle. c 1386 ― Manciple's T. 5 He slowe phiton þe serpent. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 57 A Serpent, which that Aspidis Is cleped. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys iii. 835 (Horstm.) Julyan..clepyd to hym oon wych had cunnyng Serpentys to charm. 1475 Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 21 He slow the serpent clepit Ydra. 1549 Compl. Scot. i. 20 It is desolat, ande inhabit be serpens. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 17 Here come and sit, where neuer serpent hisses. 1606 ― Ant. & Cl. ii. vii. 29 Your Serpent of Egypt, is bred now of your mud by the operation of your Sun. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 895 The green serpent, from his dark abode,..At noon forth-issuing. 1834 McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 181 The true Serpents..comprise the genera without a sternum, and in which there is no vestige of a shoulder. 1854 Owen in Orr's Circ. Sci., Org. Nat. I. 198 The serpent has no limbs, yet it can outclimb the monkey, outswim the fish, outleap the jerboa. 1867 A. J. Wilson Vashti xix, I trust neither men nor women, nor even the angels in heaven; for one of them turned serpent. 1889 Ruskin Præterita III. 75 There used to be..harmless water serpents in the Swiss waters. |
† b. A creeping thing or reptile,
esp. one of a venomous or noxious kind.
Obs.| 1440 [see 5]. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 27 The Serpente called Salamandra, which lyueth in the fyre wythoute any hurte. 1584 B. R. tr. Herodotus ii. 77 b, Very hydeous and terrible serpents called Crocodyles. 1608 Topsell Serpents 10 By Serpents we vnderstand in this discourse all venomous Beasts, whether creeping without legges, as Adders and Snakes, or with legges, as Crocodiles and Lizards, or more neerely compacted bodies, as Toades, Spiders, and Bees; following heerein the warrant of the best ancient Latinists. 1691 Evelyn Diary 30 Dec., Mr. Charlton's collection of spiders, birds, scorpions, and other serpents. |
c. Applied to serpent-like animals inhabiting the sea;
cf. sea-serpent.
| 1608 Topsell Serpents 235 In the Germaine-Ocean there is found a Serpent about the bignesse of a mans legge. 1616 T. Adams Soul's Sickness 65 One knaue guls him, hee innumerable fooles, with the strange Fish at Yarmouth, or the Serpent in Sussex. 1697 Dryden æneid ii. 272 We spy'd Two Serpents rank'd abreast, the Seas divide. 1859 Grattan Civilized Amer. I. iv. 54 She saw..a huge serpent, gliding gracefully through the waves, having evidently performed the action of turning round. |
d. In proverbial and allusive
phr. referring to the serpent's guile, treachery, or malignancy.
† the serpent's tongue, vulgarly supposed to be the ‘sting’; allusively used for ‘venomous’ speech; also (
nonce-use) for hissing.
| c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 286 Þe serpent þat so slyly crepith Vndyr þe gres & styngith subtyly. 1388 Wyclif Gen. xlix. 17 Dan be maad a serpent in the weie, and cerastes in the path. 1481 Caxton Godfrey li. 93 This fals greek whiche counseylled them allewey to theyr dammage And was alway as the serpent emonge the elis. 1508 Dunbar Flyting 75 Dissaitfull tyrand, with serpentis tung. 1584 Lodge Alarum 10 The Gentleman surprised with this sodaine ioye, and vnacquainted good speaches (not dreading that the Serpent laye hidden in the grasse)..assented. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 440 Now to scape the Serpents tongue, We will make amends ere long. 1595 ― John iii. iii. 61 He is a very serpent in my way. 1605 ― Macb. i. v. 67 Looke like th' innocent flower, But be the Serpent vnder't. 1647 Cowley Mistress, Heart-breaking ii, The mighty Serpent Love, Cut by this chance in pieces small, In all still liv'd, and still it stung in all. |
e. A pale green fashion shade.
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 12/1 Plain colored Gros Grain Silk... Colors: Green, prune,..mode, serpent, tan. 1927 Daily Express 5 Apr. 6 Navy, Ash, Serpent, Pink. |
2. The serpent, ‘more subtil than any beast of the field’, that tempted Eve (
Gen. iii. 1–5); the Tempter, the Devil, Satan. Also,
the Old Serpent (after
Rev. xii. 9).
| a 1300 Fall & Passion 26 in E.E.P. (1862) 13 A serpent he [þe deuil] com þroȝ felonie an makid eue chonge hir þoȝt. 1382 Wyclif Rev. xii. 9 The greet olde serpent, that is clepid the Deuel. 1420–2 Lydg. Thebes 4663 Lucyfer, fader of Envie, The olde Serpent, he levyathan. 14.. ― Serp. Div. (1911) 50 The contagious Serpent of Division eclipsed and appalled theire worthines. 1534 in Norwich Pageants (1856) 17 It. to Edm{supd} Thurston playeng y⊇ Serpent, 4{supd}. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 50 The oulde serpente who hath so longe had them in hys possession. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. i. 243 Being put into such a Paradise of Conserues, the Serpent of the flesh might tempt me to eate of this forbidden fruit. 1657 Trapp Comm. Ps. xvi. 4 It was the Serpents grammar that first taught men to decline God in the plurall number. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 454 The Serpent, Prince of aire. a 1720 Sewell Hist. Quakers (1722) 31 Some Men have the Nature of the Serpent (that old Adversary) to sting, envenom and poison. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 638 Some, whose souls the old serpent long had drawn Down. |
3. fig. a. As a symbol of envy, jealousy, malice, or wiliness.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 837 Thou wikked serpent Ialousye. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 1066 rubric, Howe Kynge Priamus..by þe serpente Of Envye was stirede. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 760 Such a pestilent Serpent is ambition. 1609 Tuvill Vade-mecum (1629) 127 Here is Policie without Iustice, a Serpent without a Doue. 1854 T. T. Lynch Lett. to Scattered (1872) 409 Error is a siren and a serpent. |
b. A treacherous, deceitful, or malicious person.
| [1382 Wyclif Matt. xxiii. 33 Ȝee sarpentis, fruytis, or buriownyngus, of eddris,..hou shulen ȝee flee fro the dom of helle?] 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 73 With doubler tongue Then thine (thou serpent) neuer Adder stung. 1605 ― Lear v. iii. 84 Edmund, I arrest thee On capitall Treason; and in thy arrest, This guilded Serpent. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xviii, Mr. Pott..ground his teeth..and exclaimed, in a saw-like voice,—‘Serpent!’ 1884 Chr. World 15 May 366/1 The Times degraded itself..by patting these unmannerly serpents [viz. hissers] on the back. |
4. A representation of a serpent,
esp. as a symbol or an ornament.
brazen serpent has been used allusively in reference to
Num. xxi. 9.—The figure of a serpent with its tail in its mouth is a symbol of eternity.
| 13.. Coer de L. 5728 In his blasoun..Was i-paynted a serpent. 1388 Wyclif Num. xxi. 8 Make thou a serpent of bras. and sette thou it for a signe. 1388 ― 2 Kings xviii. 4 He brak the brasun serpent, whom Moyses hadde maad. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xx. 217 At 4 Corners of the Mountour, ben 4 Serpentes of Gold. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales 434 Hym happend on a tyme to lose a sakett and a thowsand talentis þerin and a serpent of gold. 1577–8 New Yrs. Gifts in Nichols Progr. Eliz. (1823) II. 79 A sarpent of ophall with a ruby pendant. 1644 Evelyn Diary 7 Mar., A fountaine of serpents twisting about a globe. 1655 R. Farnworth (title) The Brazen Serpent lifted up on high, or Truth cleared and above the deceit exalted. 1730 Bailey (folio), Serpents, (in Hieroglyphicks) were used to represent Hereticks. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. x, Mistaking the ill-cut Serpent-of-Eternity for a common poisonous Reptile. 1867 A. J. Wilson Vashti xi, The..daintily rounded wrist encircled by the jet serpent. |
5. Astron. † a. The sign of Scorpio (?
nonce-use).
† b. The southern constellation
Hydra.
c. The northern constellation
Serpens.
| [c 1440 Astron. Cal. (MS. Ashm. 391), Whan þe moone is in Scorpio þ{supt} is the signe of a serpent.] 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 269 The great Serpent whiche is called of the greekes and latines Hydra: it containeth 25 starres. 1599 T. Hill Sch. Skil 22 The Serpent hath 11. stars. 1674 Moxon Tutor Astron. i. iii. §10 (ed. 3) 19 The Southern Serpent. 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 328 Above the Scorpion, Ophiuchus and the Serpent are..visible. |
6. A kind of firework which burns with a serpentine motion or flame.
| 1634 J. B[ate] Myst. Nat. 61 The Composition for middle sized Rockets may serve for Serpents. 1666 Pepys Diary 6 June, Mrs. Mercer's son had provided a great many serpents, and so I made the women all fire some serpents. 1697–8 Act 9 Will. III, c. 7 §1 Whereas much Mischief hath lately happened by throwing casting and fireing of Squibbs Serpentes Rockettes and other Fire-workes. 1763 Colman Prose Sev. Occas. (1787) I. 122 Some queer old gentleman may be alarmed at the..serpents hissing at his tail. a 1845 Hood To Vauxhall 13 Wheels whiz—smash crackers—serpents twist. 1869 Aldrich Story of Bad Boy viii, The smaller sort of fireworks, such as pin-wheels, serpents, double-headers. |
7. A bass wind instrument of deep tone, about 8 feet long, made of wood covered with leather and formed with three U-shaped turns. (The instrument, once disused, has been revived in the performance of early music.) Also, an organ-stop of similar tone.
| 1730 Bailey (folio), Serpent, a Kind of musical Instrument, serving as a Bass to the Cornet or small Shawm. 1775 J. Jekyll Corr. (1894) 16 High mass..was accompanied with a variety of instruments, among which the Serpent supplies a good bass. 1838 G. F. Graham Mus. Comp. 12/1 The serpent is chiefly used in military music. 1852 Seidel Organ 105 Serpent is a reed-register seldom to be met with. 1861 Thackeray Leaf out of Sk. Bk. Wks. 1900 XIII. 644 There is a great braying and bellowing of serpents and bassoons. 1872 T. Hardy Under Greenw. Tree i. iv, They should have stuck to strings as we did..and done away with serpents. 1928 Punch 2 May 485/1 The Serpent is a bass wind-instrument of wood, so-called from its shape. 1976 Early Music Oct. 477/2 We learn how Boosey and Hawkes bend brass tubes, but not why, or how, the cornett and serpent are bent. |
8. Miscellaneous transferred uses: A candle of spiral form; a ‘rope’ of hair; the crank-shaft in a weaving-machine.
Pharaoh's serpent: see
Pharaoh 4.
| 1802 T. D. Fosbroke Brit. Monachism I. 33 On the Sunday the same ceremony followed..respecting the serpent. 1869 Browning Ring & Bk. xi. 1365 Had I enjoined ‘Cut off the hair!’..at once a yard or so Had fluttered in black serpents to the floor. 1870 A. O'Shaughnessy Epic of Women 120 Through the swift mesh'd serpents of her hair. 1878 Barlow Weaving 230 The crankshaft is called a ‘serpent’. |
9. Hist. = serpentine n. 2.
| 1830 D. Booth Analyt. Dict. 137 Smaller machines, having the names of Dragons, Serpents, Scorpions, War-wolves. 1895 Oman in Traill's Soc. Eng. III. 75 A couple of hundred gunners, with ten or twelve ‘serpents’ or ‘bombards’. |
10. attrib. and
Comb.:
a. simple
attrib., as
serpent-bite,
serpent breed,
serpent-coil,
serpent emblem,
serpent enemy,
serpent-poison,
serpent-race (see ophiogenes),
serpent skin,
serpent-slime,
serpent symbol,
serpent-tail,
serpent-train,
serpent tribe; (with reference to the snake-like hair of the Furies)
serpent-braid,
serpent-fury,
serpent-tress;
b. objective, as
serpent-bruiser,
serpent-charmer,
serpent-eating adj.,
serpent-killer,
serpent slayer,
serpent-worship,
serpent-worshipper;
c. similative (
cf. 12), as
serpent-footed,
serpent-haired,
serpent-hearted,
serpent-rooted,
serpent-throated adjs., also
serpent-green,
serpent-wise adjs.;
d. instrumental, as
serpent-bitten,
serpent-cinctured,
serpent-circled,
serpent-stung ppl. adjs.| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. i, A miraculous Brazen Serpent..whereon whosoever looks..shall be healed of all woes and *serpent-bites. |
| 1629 H. Burton Truth's Tri. 63 The *serpent-bitten-man looked, and liued. |
| 1813 Byron Giaour 880 The sablest of the *serpent-braid That o'er her fearful forehead stray'd. |
| 1774 J. Bryant Anc. Mythol. (1775) I. 481 οϕιογενεις, or the *serpent-breed. |
| 1738 Wesley Hymns, Jesu God of our Salvation iv, Jesu! Help, thou *Serpent-Bruiser. |
| 1861 Gosse Rom. Nat. Hist. Ser. ii. 289 The poor *serpent-charmer never came to life again. |
| Ibid. 279 [Hasselquist] records his judgment that there is no delusion in *serpent-charming. |
| 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 324 A *serpent-cinctured wand [sc. the caduceus]. |
| 1896 A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xlii, With..feet that fly on feathers, And *serpent-circled wand. |
| 1833 L. Ritchie Wand. Loire 83 The *serpent-coil of Laocoon. |
| 1596 C. Fitzgeffrey Sir F. Drake C 1 Foule *serpent-eating envies loathsome cottage. |
| 1887 G. Salmon in W. Smith & Wace's Dict. Chr. Biog. IV. 80 A religious use of the *serpent emblem was common to the Phoenicians with the Egyptians. |
| 1848 R. I. Wilberforce Doctr. Incarnation ii. 18 That by the woman's seed her *serpent enemy should finally be subjugated. |
| 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. i. (1626) 5 The *Serpent-footed Giants. |
| 1849 Aytoun Lays Scott. Cavaliers (ed. 2) 219 The *serpent-furies Coiled around the maddening brain. |
| 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 13 A *serpent-green sky. |
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. iii. viii, These *serpent-haired Extreme She-Patriots. |
| 1850 F. Mason Nat. Product. Burmah 329 *Serpent-hearted eel. |
| 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal xv. Annot. 279 The *Serpent-killer, Ibis. |
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VII. 200 The potency of the *serpent poison. |
| 1774 J. Bryant Anc. Mythol. (1775) I. 484 The natives of Thebes in Bœotia..esteemed themselves of the *serpent race. |
| 1855 Tennyson Brook 135 Seated on a *serpent-rooted beech. |
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. xii. 125 A *serpent skyn. 1818 Keats Endym. iii. 239 Where go, When I have cast this serpent-skin of woe? |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. iv. Columnes 508 That stout *Serpent-slayer, His Satan-taming Son. |
| 1844 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile 651 Bring no *serpent-slime Athwart this path. |
| 1855 Bailey Mystic, etc. 118 His bright bride Though *serpent-stung. |
| 1851 Squier (title) The *Serpent Symbol, and the worship of the reciprocal principles of Nature in America. |
| 1847 Tennyson Princess v. 243 The blast and bray of the long horn And *serpent-throated bugle. |
| 1769 Gray Installat. Ode 8 Let painted Flatt'ry hide her *serpent-train in flowers. |
| 1791 Darwin Bot. Gard. i. 217 With bright wreath of *serpent-tresses crown'd,..young Medusa frown'd. |
| 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 279/2 The *serpent tribe. |
| 1933 W. de la Mare Fleeting 144 Her eyes Stirred not a hair's breadth, *serpent-wise. |
| 1774 J. Bryant Anc. Mythol. (1775) I. 425 Mount Lebanon, and Hermon..where *serpent-worship particularly prevailed. 1871 Tylor Prim. Culture II. 218 The old Prussian serpent-worship and offering of food to the household snakes. |
| Ibid., Legends of serpent-races who turn out to be simply *serpent-worshippers. |
| a 1875 Kingsley in C. K. Paul Memories (1899) 160 I've always thought that the serpent [in Genesis] was a *serpent-worshipping black tribe. |
e. serpent-tail vb. (
nonce-wd.), to link up. (
Cf. serpentine a. 1 b.)
| 1872 Ruskin Fors Clav. xxiv. 12 It is necessary to serpent-tail this pit with the upper hell by a district for insanity without deed. |
f. serpent-wise adv.| 1927 E. Sitwell Rustic Elegies 40 The wicked knife flashed serpent-wise. |
11. a. Special comb.:
serpent-bearer = Ophiuchus;
serpent bird, a bird of the family
Plotidæ = darter 4 a;
serpent-boat, a canoe of great length used on the Malabar coast (Ogilvie, 1882);
serpent cucumber, a cucumber of the genus
Trichosanthes, having long serpent-like fruit,
esp. T. colubrina;
serpent deity = serpent-god;
serpent eagle, a bird of prey of the genus
Spilornis;
serpent-eater, (
a) the secretary bird; (
b) the markhor;
serpent-eel, a marine animal of the genus
Ophichthys;
serpent-fence, ‘a zigzag fence made by placing the ends of the rails upon each other’ (Ogilvie);
serpent-fish, the red snake-fish,
Cepola rubescens;
serpent-god, a serpent worshipped as a god; the object of worship of the Ophites;
serpent-king, a name given to Cecrops, who is represented with a body terminating in a serpent form;
serpent-lizard = seps 2;
serpent melon = serpent cucumber;
serpent paper [
= F.
papier (
à la)
serpente], a very thin transparent paper having a serpent for the water-mark;
serpent-star, an ophiuran;
† serpent-tongue, a jeweller's ornament in the shape of a snake's tongue;
serpent-wand, the caduceus;
serpent-withe,
Aristolochia odoratissima;
† serpent-wood, the wood of
Strychnos colubrina or some related plant.
| 1551 Recorde Cast. Knowl. (1556) 264 Serpentarius, that is the manne with the Serpente, or *Serpent bearer. 1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 273/1 Serpens..astronomically distinguished from Ophiuchus, but not mythologically, being the serpent carried by the Serpent-bearer. |
| 1870 Gillmore tr. Figuier's Reptiles & Birds 263 The Darter..in the United States..has received the name of the *Serpent Bird. |
| 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 326 *Serpent Cucumber, Trichosanthes. |
| 1774 J. Bryant Anc. Mythol. (1775) I. 428 When the Greeks understood that in these temples people worshiped a *serpent Deity, they concluded that Trachon was a serpent. |
| 187. Cassell's Nat. Hist. III. 284 The Indian *Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela). |
| 1731 Medley Kolben's Cape Good Hope II. 142 The Cape Europeans call this Bird the *Serpent-Eater. 1819 Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. XI. 193 Hoatzin Serpent-Eater. 1840 G. T. Vigne Narr. Visit Afghanistan 86, I procured a good skin of the markhur, or serpent-eater. |
| 1896 Lydekker's Roy. Nat. Hist. v. 449 *Serpent-eels are represented by a great number of species. |
| 1753 Chambers' Cycl. Suppl., Serpens rubescens, the red *serpent fish,..properly of the tænia kind. |
| 1816 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxii. (1818) II. 273 Their wonder would have been diminished, and their *serpent-gods undeified. 1873 R. H. Busk Sagas fr. Far East 18 A pool where lived two Serpent-gods, who had command of the water. |
| 1855 Kingsley Heroes, Theseus i, Kekrops the *serpent-king. |
| 1802 Shaw Gen. Zool. III. 307 *Serpent Lizard. |
| 1778 Ann. Reg., Chron. 192 There is now growing..in Lancashire a *serpent melon which measures in length five feet two inches and an half. |
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XIII. 715/2 The manner of preparing this [oiled] paper is to take that which is thin and smooth, known commonly by the name of *serpent paper. |
| 1851 Mantell Petrifactions ii. §i. 82 Asteridæ (named Ophiura or *Serpent-stars). |
| 1488 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 81 A grete *serpent toung set with gold, perle and precious stanis. |
| 1849 Aytoun Lays Scott. Cavaliers (ed. 2) 277, I have seen the robes of Hermes glisten—Seen him wave afar his *serpent-wand. |
| 1864 Grisebach Flora W. Ind. Islands 787 *Serpent-withe. |
| 1681 Grew Musæum ii. §i. i. 180 A piece of *Serpent-Wood. Lignum Colubrinum. |
b. Combinations with
serpent's:
serpent's beard,
Ophiopogon japonicus (
Treas. Bot. 1874);
serpent's head,
skull, names for species of cowry;
serpent's tongue,
† (
a)
= adder's tongue; (
b) the fossil tooth of a shark.
| 1815 S. Brookes Conchol. 156 *Serpents Head. Cypræa Caput serpentis. |
| 1795 tr. Thunberg's Trav. (ed. 2) II. 82 Small shells, called *serpents skulls (Cypræa moneta). |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. xciii. 135 [Ophioglosson] is now called..in English, Adders tongue, & *Serpents tonge. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 720 A kind of stone called the serpents toong. 1835 D. Booth Analyt. Dict. 284 The fossil bodies called Glossopetræ (petrified tongues) and Serpents' Tongues. |
12. quasi-adj. a. Resembling a serpent or that of a serpent, serpent-like, serpentiform, serpentine.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. ii. 73 O Serpent heart, hid with a flowring face. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. ii. ix, Their serpent windings. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 302 With Serpent errour wandring. a 1718 Parnell Hesiod 101 Back roll'd her azure veil with serpent fold. 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 342 He, whose practis'd wit Knew all the serpent-mazes of deceit. 1820 Shelley Prometh. Unb. iii. iii. 135 It feeds the quick growth of the serpent vine. 1835 Lytton Rienzi ii. v, The serpent smile is your countrymen's proper distinction. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. iv, Shaking their serpent-hair. 1869 Browning Ring & Bk. xi. 1611 All the way down the serpent-stair to hell! 1872 Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 884 Those long loops Wherethro' the serpent river coil'd. |
b. Antiq. of temples, etc. having the supposed symbolical form of a serpent.
| 1774 J. Bryant Anc. Mythol. (1775) I. 464 Tor-Opus, the serpent-hill, or temple. 1830 Deane Worship Serp. vi. 341 The erection of a serpent-temple, like that of Abury. 1897 Saga-Bk. Viking Club Jan. 256 Whether any old serpent-mounds had been found in Iceland. |
▪ II. † ˈserpent, a. Obs. [ad. L. serpent-em, pres. pple. of serpĕre to creep.] Of an ulcer: Spreading.
| 1541 R. Copland Galyen's Terap. G ij, Serpent vlceres & other affections y{supt} maketh the vlceres long in healyng. |
▪ III. ˈserpent, v. Now
rare.
[ad. F. serpenter (14th c.), f. serpent serpent n.] 1. intr. To move in a serpentine manner; to follow a tortuous course; to wind.
| 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. i. Tropheis 1038 The Banks of Forth (Whose forceful stream runs smoothly serpenting). 1679 Evelyn Sylva (ed. 3) 78 [Poplars] in Italy, for their Vines to serpent on. a 1706 ― Hist. Relig. (1850) I. 28 Rivers and larger streams; made to serpent in meandering crooks. 1746 Phil. Trans. XLIV. 58 One sees a Light serpenting all along the Tube. 1818 Keats Endym. iii. 500 Shapes, wizard and brute, Laughing and wailing, groveling, serpenting. |
| fig. 1841 Lever Charles O'Malley xvii. 93 So did Mr. Webber tread his way, serpenting through the statute-book. |
b. To make (one's way) tortuously.
| 1891 Sat. Rev. 23 May 620/2 Serpenting their way through the dry grass. |
† 2. trans. To entwine.
Obs.| a 1700 Evelyn Diary 30 Jan. 1645, Fruit-trees, whose boles are serpented with excellent vines. |