cerastes
Americannoun
plural
cerastesnoun
Etymology
Origin of cerastes
1768; < New Latin < Greek kerástēs literally, something horned, equivalent to kerat- stem of kéras horn + -tēs noun suffix; earlier in sense “asp,” Middle English < Medieval Latin, Latin, as above
Vocabulary lists containing cerastes
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The rattlesnake Crotalus cerastes is venomous to humans.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 21, 2022
Of all the deadly worms that breed in these wildernesses the most formidable, because the most sluggish, is the two-horned nocturnal cerastes, the "pretty worm of Nilus."
From Fountains in the Sand Rambles Among the Oases of Tunisia by Douglas, Norman
"Parum Lutherus ac Erasmus differunt Serpens uterque est, plenus atro toxico; Sed ille mordet ut cerastes in via, Hic fraudulentus mordet in silentio."
From Notes and Queries, Number 02, November 10, 1849 by Various
Century Dictionary, illustration of cerastes, 81; a triumph of typography, 16, 135.
From The Booklover and His Books by Koopman, Harry Lyman
They came as if drawn by a spell: venomous toads and snakes of every description, asp and adder, cerastes and acontias; only one old serpent, disabled apparently by age, ignored the summons.
From Works of Lucian of Samosata — Volume 03 by Fowler, F. G. (Francis George)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
