Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “serpent” come from?

serpent (French) comes from Middle French serpent, from Old French serpent, from Latin serpēns, from Latin serpō, from Proto-Indo-European serp- — to creep, crawl.

serpent (French): snake

Definitions

  1. snake

Ancestry of “serpent”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchserpentsnake
2Old Frenchserpentsnake
3Latinserpēns—
4Latinserpō—
5Proto-Indo-Europeanserp-to creep, crawl
Every word from Proto-Indo-European serp- →