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^(key): /ˈser.peːns/

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

Noun

serpēns f (genitive serpentis); third declension

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

Inflection

Third declension.

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

• Maltese: serp
• Occitan: sèrp
• Portuguese: serpente
• Romanian: șarpe, șerpânță
• Romansch: serp, siarp, serpent, serpaint
• Sicilian: serpi, serpenti
• Spanish: sierpe, serpiente
• Walloon: sierpint
• Welsh: sarff

Participle

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

1. creeping, crawling

Inflection

Third declension, neuter nominative singular like masculine/feminine.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case \ Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
nominative	serpēns	serpēns		serpentēs	serpentia
genitive	serpentis	serpentis		serpentium	serpentium
dative	serpentī	serpentī		serpentibus	serpentibus
accusative	serpentem	serpēns		serpentēs	serpentia
ablative	serpente serpentī 1	serpente serpentī 1		serpentibus	serpentibus
vocative	serpēns	serpēns		serpentēs	serpentia

¹ When used purely as an adjective.