cerastes

American  

[suh-ras-teez] / səˈræs tiz /

noun

plural

cerastes

1. any of several small vipers of the genus Cerastes, including the horned viper, that have a sideways looping motion like that of a sidewinder and inhabit deserts of northern Africa and southwestern Asia.

---

cerastes British  

/ səˈræstiːz /

noun

1. any venomous snake of the genus Cerastes, esp the horned viper

---

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

Example Sentences

The rattlesnake Crotalus cerastes is venomous to humans.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 21, 2022

The original term here is shephiphon, and is understood by several authors to denote the cerastes, a very poisonous kind of viper, distinguished by having horns.

From Palestine or the Holy Land From the Earliest Period to the Present Time by Russell, Michael

Little serpents and cerastes they had for hair, wherewith their savage brows were bound.

From Divine Comedy, Norton's Translation, Hell by Norton, Charles Eliot

Some think one hieroglyph is a cerastes, but Dr. Birch says the group probably consisted of a harpoon and three vertical lines—a common sign of plurality.

From Cleopatra's Needle A History of the London Obelisk, with an Exposition of the Hieroglyphics by King, James

Century Dictionary, illustration of cerastes, 81; a triumph of typography, 16, 135.

From The Booklover and His Books by Koopman, Harry Lyman