mersnake

English

Etymology

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

Noun

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.