Serpentine

How to spell serpentine

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce serpentine

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does serpentine mean?

1. adjectiveWinding and twisting in shape, like the curving path of a snake.
2. nounA green, often mottled rock or mineral once thought to resemble snakeskin, used for carving and decorative stone.

Serpentine in a sentence

• adjective

  The serpentine road climbed slowly through the steep mountain pass.

• noun

  The polished green serpentine on the mantelpiece had been quarried in Cornwall.

• adjective

  A serpentine river curled across the valley floor in long, lazy loops.

• noun

  Geologists noted veins of serpentine running through the dark rock face.

Where does serpentine come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin serpens, meaning 'snake' or 'serpent', which itself came from the verb serpere, 'to creep' or 'to crawl', a vivid description of how a snake moves across the ground. Roman and later Medieval Latin formed the adjective serpentinus to mean 'of a snake' or 'snake-like', and English took the word in through Old French serpentin during the 1300s. The figurative meaning of 'winding and twisting like a snake' developed naturally from the way a serpent coils and weaves. The same serpere root also gave us the green, often mottled mineral called serpentine, named because its patterned surface was thought to look like snakeskin. Knowing that the heart of the word is the plain noun 'serpent' is the easiest way to keep the spelling steady right up to the final -ine.

How the word is built

• serpent- (from Latin serpens: a creeping snake)
• -ine (adjective suffix meaning 'of or resembling')