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
Judge his anguish then, and my disappointment, when, seven days before her twenty-first birthday, she was bitten by a cerastes, and her body died.
From Weapons of Mystery by Hocking, Joseph
"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
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)
In Egypt, on the other hand, the cobra, the asp, and the cerastes are as numerous as ever, and are much dreaded by all the natives, except the professional snake charmers.
From Man and Nature or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action by Marsh, George P.
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.
