different between serpent vs ophidian

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French serpent (“snake, serpent”), from Latin serp?ns (“snake”), from the verb serp? (“I creep, crawl”), from Proto-Indo-European *serp-.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s??p?nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?p?nt/
• Hyphenation: ser?pent

Noun

serpent (plural serpents)

1. A snake.
2. (music) An obsolete wind instrument in the brass family, whose shape is suggestive of a snake (Wikipedia article).
3. (figuratively) A subtle, treacherous, malicious person.
4. A kind of firework with a serpentine motion.

Derived terms

• serpentarium
• serpenticide

Related terms

• serpentine
• Old Serpent
• serpentist

Translations

Verb

serpent (third-person singular simple present serpents, present participle serpenting, simple past and past participle serpented)

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To wind or meander
2. (obsolete, transitive) To encircle.

See also

• herpetology
• lizard
• reptile
• snake

Anagrams

• penster, present, repents, respent

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin serp?ns, serpentem, from serp? (“crawl, creep”), from Proto-Indo-European *serp-.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /s???pent/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /s?r?pen/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /se??pent/

Noun

serpent m or f (plural serpents)

1. snake

Synonyms

• serp

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch serpent, from Old French serpent (“snake, serpent”), from Latin serp?ns (“snake”), from the verb serp? (“I creep, crawl”), from Proto-Indo-European *serp-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s?r?p?nt/
• Hyphenation: ser?pent
• Rhymes: -?nt

Noun

serpent n or f or m (plural serpenten, diminutive serpentje n)

1. (formal, dated) snake

   Synonym: slang

2. (formal) serpent, serpentine dragon, large snake

   Synonym: slang

3. an unpleasant, spiteful or foulmouthed person, especially used of women

   Synonym: slang

Noun

serpent f (plural serpenten, diminutive serpentje n)

1. (music) serpent (wind instrument)

Descendants

• ? West Frisian: serpint

Anagrams

• persten, strepen

French

Etymology

From Middle French serpent, from Old French serpent, from Latin serpentem, accusative form of serp?ns, from serp? (“crawl, creep”), from Proto-Indo-European *serp-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s??.p??/

Noun

serpent m (plural serpents)

1. snake

Derived terms

Further reading

• “serpent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• présent

Latin

Verb

serpent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of serp?

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French serpent, from Latin serpentem, accusative singular form of serp?ns.

Noun

serpent m (plural serpenz)

1. snake

Descendants

• French: serpent

Old French

Etymology

From Latin serp?ns, serpentem.

Noun

serpent m (oblique plural serpenz or serpentz, nominative singular serpenz or serpentz, nominative plural serpent)

1. snake

Descendants

• Middle French: serpent
  • French: serpent
• Walloon: sierpint
• ? English: serpent
• ? Dutch: serpent

Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Vallader) serpaint

Etymology

From Latin serp?ns, serpentem.

Noun

serpent m (plural serpents)

1. (Surmiran) snake

Synonyms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Puter, Vallader) serp
• (Sursilvan) siarp
• (Sutsilvan) zearp
• (Surmiran) zerp

English

Etymology

From Latin ophidia (from Ancient Greek ???? (óphis, “snake”)) +? -ian.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o??f?di.?n/
• Hyphenation: ophid?i?an

Noun

ophidian (plural ophidians)

1. Any species of the suborder Serpentes; a snake or serpent.
   • 1997, Olivier Rieppel, 2: The Lepidosauromorpha: an overview with special emphasis on the Squamata, Nicholas C. Fraser, Hans-Dieter Sues (editors), In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs: Early Mesozoic Tetrapods, page 31,

     Vertebral structure is critical for the identification of fossil snakes, because vertebrae are among the most easily fossilized parts of ophidians.

   • 2011, Didier Marchand, Chapter 11: The Logic of Forms in the Light of Developmental Biology and Palaeontology, Paul Bourgine, Morphogenesis, page 205,

     It has long been known that ophidians have lost not only their front legs but also every embryonic trace of these limbs and their associated shoulder girdle (to such a degree that we cannot determine how many cervical vertebrae they have).

   • 2012, Bruce M. Rothschild, Hans-Peter Schultze, Rodrigo Pellegrini, Herpetological Osteopathology: Annotated Bibliography of Amphibians and Reptiles, page 226,

     Siamese or double monsters are well known in saurians, chelonians, and ophidians, as are bicephalic, two-tailed and conjoined bodies (thoracodymus, ischiodymus, etc.).

Translations

Adjective

ophidian (comparative more ophidian, superlative most ophidian)

1. Of or pertaining to the suborder Serpentes; of, related to, or characteristic of a snake or serpent.
   • 2009, Thomas E. Sniegoski, The Fallen, Simon Pulse (2003), ?ISBN, page 115:

     The ophidian beast began to glow eerily, and Aaron could discern a fine webwork of veins and capillaries running throughout the creature's body.

   • 2009, Encyclopedia of Islands (eds. Rosemary G. Gillespie & D. A. Clague), University of California Press (2009), ?ISBN, page 843:

     A less obvious asset of snakes is their very light and supple jaws, which arose in the course of ophidian evolution to permit the ingestion of extraordinarily large meals (at maximum, more than 100% of their body mass).

   • 2011, Pre-Columbian America: Empires of the New World (ed. Kathleen Kuiper), Britannica Educational Publishing (2011), ?ISBN, page 62:

     Another ophidian deity recognizable in Classic reliefs is the Feathered Serpent, known to the Maya as Kukulcán (and to the Toltecs and Aztecs as Quetzalcóatl).

Synonyms

• anguine

Translations

References

• (etymology) Ophidian, The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.