colubrine

[kol-uh-brahyn, -brin, -yuh-]

adjective

1. of or resembling a snake; snakelike.

2. belonging or pertaining to the subfamily Colubrinae, comprising the typical colubrid snakes.

colubrine

/ -brɪn, ˈkɒljʊˌbraɪn /

adjective

1. of or resembling a snake

2. of, relating to, or belonging to the Colubrinae, a subfamily of harmless colubrid snakes

Word History and Origins

Origin of colubrine¹

1520–30; < Latin colubrīnus, equivalent to colubr- (stem of coluber ) snake + -īnus -ine ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of colubrine¹

C16: from Latin colubrīnus, from coluber snake

Example Sentences

This greed of Uncle Eneas was colubrine.

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Spilotes, spī-lō′tēz, n. a genus of colubrine serpents.

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Natrix, nā′triks, n. a genus of colubrine snakes.

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Colubrine domesticity had its allures.

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Catalogue of colubrine snakes in the collection of the British Museum.

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