python1
[pahy-thon, -thuh n]
- any of several Old World boa constrictors of the subfamily Pythoninae, often growing to a length of more than 20 feet (6 meters): the Indian python, Python molurus, is endangered.
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Origin of python1
python2
[pahy-thon, -thuh n]
- a spirit or demon.
- a person who is possessed by a spirit and prophesies by its aid.
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Origin of python2
Python1
[pahy-thon, -thuh n]
- a large dragon who guarded the chasm at Delphi from which prophetic vapors emerged. He was finally killed by Apollo, who established his oracle on the site.
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Origin of Python1
1390–1400; Middle English, from Latin Pȳthōn, from Greek Pȳ́thōn
Python2
[pahy-thon]
- an open-source, high-level programming language known for its readability and support for multiple programming styles, and, due to its many libraries, a large range of applications.
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Origin of Python2
coined in 1989 by Python's creator Guido van Rossum after the comedy troupe Monty Python
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for python
Contemporary Examples
The press release had stated that the show would feature “classic Python material with modern topical twists.”
As Not the Nine o'Clock News, a spiritual successor to Python, once put it: “These men died for us – frequently.”
During one of his infamous animal interactions, Johnny Carson got up close and very personal with a Burmese python.
The president is at the end of this pig in the python of the cohorts, while I am at the front.
My reverie is quickly interrupted: As I stuff the python into the bag, it spews out a variety of secretions.
Historical Examples
The boar, watching its fate, squealed, and the python advanced.
The Adventures of Piang the Moro Jungle BoyFlorence Partello Stuart
After a meal of that kind, a python is unable to move for several days.
Children of BorneoEdwin Herbert Gomes
There are many varieties of snakes, varying in size from the python downwards.
Children of BorneoEdwin Herbert Gomes
Mowgli turned and saw the great Python's head swaying a foot above his own.
The Jungle BookRudyard Kipling
The Python dropped his head lightly for a minute on Mowgli's shoulder.
The Jungle BookRudyard Kipling
python
- any large nonvenomous snake of the family Pythonidae of Africa, S Asia, and Australia, such as Python reticulatus (reticulated python). They can reach a length of more than 20 feet and kill their prey by constriction
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Word Origin
C16: New Latin, after Python
Python
- Greek myth a dragon, killed by Apollo at Delphi
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for python
n.
1580s, fabled serpent, slain by Apollo near Delphi, from Latin Python, from Greek Python "serpent slain by Apollo," probably related to Pytho, the old name of Delphi, perhaps itself related to pythein "to rot," or from PIE *dhubh-(o)n-, from *dheub- "hollow, deep, bottom, depths," and used in reference to the monsters who inhabit them. Zoological application to large non-venomous snakes of the tropics is from 1836, originally in French.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper