Etymology Explorer › Middle French

Where does “serpent” come from?

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

serpent (Middle French): snake

Definitions

  1. snake

Ancestry of “serpent”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchserpentsnake
2Latinserpēns—
3Latinserpō—
4Proto-Indo-Europeanserp-to creep, crawl

Words derived from “serpent”

  • serpent
Every word from Proto-Indo-European serp- →