mersnake

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English

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Etymology

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From mer- +‎ snake. Compare Middle English mereneddre (sea-snake, lamprey), from Old English merenǣddra, merenǣddre, merenǣdre (lamprey, sea snake, literally sea-adder).

Noun

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mersnake (plural mersnakes)

  1. A sea snake.
    • 1989, Arthur Byron Cover, Stationfall:
      I asked casually while we walked past a few buildings with split columns painted with a pit of mersnakes eating raw flesh.
    • 2005, Brian M. Stableford, Donna Scott, Gabriel Strange, Curse of the Coral Bride:
      The first drowned in a cthulhoid's multitentacular clasp, the second was poisoned by multiple mersnake bites, and the third bled to death after his flesh was seared and scarified by a shoal of lumpreys.
  2. (fantasy) A mermaid snake.