serpent

Meanings

Noun

• A snake.
• An obsolete wind instrument in the brass family, whose shape is suggestive of a snake (Wikipedia article).
• A subtle, treacherous, malicious person.
• A kind of firework with a serpentine motion.

Verb

• To wind or meander
• To encircle.

Origin

• From Middle English serpent, from Old French serpent ("snake, serpent"), from Latin serpēns ("snake"), from the verb serpō, from Proto-Indo-European *serp-. In this sense, displaced native , whence Modern English adder.