serpent

American  

[sur-puhnt] / ˈsɜr pənt /

noun

1. a snake.

2. a wily, treacherous, or malicious person.

3. the Devil; Satan. Genesis 3:1–5.

4. a firework that burns with a serpentine motion or flame.

5. an obsolete wooden wind instrument with a serpentine shape and a deep, coarse tone.

6. Astronomy. Serpent, the constellation Serpens.

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serpent British  

/ ˈsɜːpənt /

noun

1. a literary or dialect word for snake

2. Old Testament a manifestation of Satan as a guileful tempter (Genesis 3:1–5)

3. a sly, deceitful, or unscrupulous person

4. an obsolete wind instrument resembling a snake in shape, the bass form of the cornett

5. a firework that moves about with a serpentine motion when ignited

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serpent Cultural  

1. The creature in the Book of Genesis that tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, thus committing the first act of the Fall of Man. In the New Testament, the serpent of Genesis is identified with Satan.

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Etymology

Origin of serpent

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin serpent-, stem of serpēns “crawling”; see origin at Serpens

Explanation

A serpent is a snake. If you keep a serpent as a pet, you may have to get used to feeding it live mice. While you're probably more likely to use the word snake for this slithery reptile, serpent tends to be the word that shows up in folk tales and mythology. Serpents have represented qualities ranging from evil to fertility to poison throughout history, and even today the symbol of medicine is a staff entwined by a serpent. The Latin root is serpentem, "creeping thing," from serpere, "to creep."

Example Sentences

John Kani was on his way to joining the Umkhonto We Sizwe paramilitary wing in 1965 when he took a detour to a Serpent Players drama group rehearsal in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

“This Is Where the Serpent Lives” has all the strengths of that earlier work and more.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

Two American Black Hawk helicopters crashed in which city in 1993 during part of Operation Gothic Serpent?

From Slate • Feb. 21, 2024

At the press opening for the Metropolitan Museum’s beyond-beautiful “Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India, 200 B.C.E.-400 C.E.,” five red-robed monks chanted Pali blessings, the vocalized equivalent of oceanic silence.

From New York Times • Jul. 21, 2023

A legend exists concerning the founder of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Isolt Sayre, and a Horned Serpent.

From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling

Related Words

• snake
• viper