Where does “kingsnake” come from?

kingsnake (English) comes from English King, from Middle English king, from Old English cyning, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic tūn, from Proto-Germanic tūną, from Gaulish dunum, from Proto-Celtic dūnom — smoke; mist, haze.

kingsnake (English): Any of various colubrid snakes of the genus...

Definitions

  1. Any of various colubrid snakes of the genus...

Ancestry of “kingsnake”, step by step

kingsnake traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English King

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishKingradiotelephony clear-code word for the letter K
2Middle Englishkingking monarch
3Old Englishcyningking
4Old Englishtūnenclosure, yard; place; dwelling
5Proto-West Germanictūnfence
6Proto-Germanictūnąfence; enclosure
7Gaulishdunumfort; hill, hillfort
8Proto-Celticdūnomstronghold, rampart
9Proto-Indo-Europeandʰewh₂-smoke; mist, haze

via English snake

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsnakeA legless reptile of the sub-order Serpentes with...
2Middle Englishsnakesnake; serpent
3Old Englishsnacasnake
4Proto-Germanicsnakôsnake
5Proto-Germanicsnakanąto crawl
6Proto-Indo-Europeansneg-to crawl, creeping thing
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰewh₂-Every word from Proto-Celtic dūnomEvery word from Gaulish dunum