Where does “herpetologia” come from?

herpetologia (French) comes from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν, from Ancient Greek ἕρπω, from Proto-Indo-European *sérpeti.

Ancestry of “herpetologia”, step by step

Step	Language	Word	Meaning
1	Ancient Greek	ἑρπετόν	Any animal which walks on four legs; creeping...
2	Ancient Greek	ἕρπω	to move slowly, walk; crawl, creep, slink; I go...
3	Proto-Indo-European	*sérpeti	—

herpetologia — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer