serpens

See also Serpens

Latin

serpēns (serpent)

Etymology

Present active participle of serpō (“crawl, creep”), from Proto-Indo-European *serp-. Cognate with Sanskrit सर्प (sarpá, “snake, serpent”), Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν (herpetón, “serpent, creeping animal”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA: /ˈser.peːns/

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

Noun

serpēns (genitive serpentis); f, third declension

1. A serpent, snake
2. (astronomy) either Draco or Serpens
3. A louse
4. Any creeping animal

Inflection

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	serpēns	serpentēs
genitive	serpentis	serpentum
dative	serpentī	serpentibus
accusative	serpentem	serpentēs
ablative	serpente	serpentibus
vocative	serpēns	serpentēs

Synonyms

• (serpent, snake): anguis, colubra
• (constellation Draco): anguis
• (louse): pedīculus

Related terms

serpentāria serpentigena serpentīnus

serpentipēs serpō serpula

Descendants

Aromanian: sharpe Catalan: serp, serpent English: serpent Esperanto: serpento French: serpent Friulian: sarpint Galician: serpe

Interlingua: serpente Italian: serpe, serpente Portuguese: serpente Romanian: șarpe, șerpânță Romansch: serp, serpent Sicilian: serpi, serpenti Spanish: sierpe, serpiente

Participle

serpēns m., f., and n. (genitive serpentis); third declension

1. creeping, crawling

Inflection

Number	Singular			Plural
Case \ Gender	M.F.	N.		MM.FF.	NN.
nominative	serpēns	serpēns		serpentēs	serpentia
genitive	serpentis	serpentis		serpentium	serpentium
dative	serpentī	serpentī		serpentibus	serpentibus
accusative	serpentem	serpēns		serpentēs	serpentia
ablative	serpente1	serpente1		serpentibus	serpentibus
vocative	serpēns	serpēns		serpentēs	serpentia

¹ But serpentī when used purely as an adjective.