serpentine
Syllables: ser·pen·tineUK/ˈsɜː.pənˌtaɪn//ˈsɝ.pənˌtaɪn/
serpentine adjective: of, pertaining to, or characteristic of snakes.
Adjective
serpentine (comparative more serpentine, superlative most serpentine)
- Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of snakes.
- Of, or having attributes associated with, the serpent referred to in the book of Genesis in the Bible, such as craftiness or deceitfulness.
- The wily criminal was known for his serpentine behavior.
- Having the form or shape of a snake.
- There are serpentine species of lizards which do not have legs.
- Synonyms:
- ophidian
- Curving in alternate directions; sinuous.
- The serpentine path through the mountains was narrow and dangerous.
- So! keep looking so— / My serpentining beauty, rounds on rounds!1855, Robert Browning, “Andrea del Sarto. (Called ‘the Faultless Painter.’)”, in Men and Women […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 2
- Pertaining to the serpentine subgroup of minerals.
- serpentine soils
Noun
serpentine (plural serpentines)
- Any of several plants believed to cure snakebites.
- An early form of cannon, used in the 16th century.
- A kind of firework.
- A coiled distillation tube.
- Any of several related cubic curves; anguinea
- In dressage, a winding walk across on the arena.
- Any of several green/brown minerals consisting of magnesium and iron silicates that have similar layered crystal structure, whose appearance somewhat resembles a snake's skin.
- It is reached by five-and-twenty steps of porphyry and serpentine.2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 394
- An outcrop or region with soil and rock dominated by these minerals.
Verb
serpentine (third-person singular simple present serpentines, present participle serpentining, simple past and past participle serpentined)
- To serpentize; to turn or bend; to meander.
- There were two little lakes, or rather large pools which stood in the bottom, whence issued a rivulet which serpentined in view for two or three miles, offering a pleasing relief to the eye.1813, George Nicholson, The Cambrian Traveller's Guidey
- The mountains were fully in their gorgeous autumn garb the next morning, as the train serpentined up and up toward the divide.1912, William B. Simmons, “The First Tripper”, in Hamilton Literary Magazine, volume 47, page 123
Proper noun (1) capitalized: Serpentine
the Serpentine
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Serpentine
Serpentine
- A river in Alaska.
- A river in Australia.
- A river in Canada.
- A minor river in Tasman district and the city of Nelson, New Zealand.
- A town in the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, Western Australia.
serpentine meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
serpentine in Hindi
- mineral
- ज़हर मोहरा zahar mohrā
serpentine in Marathi
- सर्पाकार
serpentine in Urdu
- سرپینٹائن, سرپین, سرپینائن
serpentine in Bengali
- সর্পিল, সাপের মতো আঁকাবাঁকা
More languagesFewer languages
- serpentine in Telugu
- సర్పెంటైన్, సర్పైన్
- serpentine in Malayalam
- സർപ്പാകൃതിയായ, ഭുജംഗഗതിയായ, വളഞ്ഞുപുളഞ്ഞുപോകുന്ന, സർപ്പിളാകൃതിയായ
- serpentine in Kannada
- ಸರ್ಪಾಕಾರದ, ಸುತ್ತುಸುತ್ತಿನ, ವಂಚಕ ಸ್ವಭಾವದ, ದ್ರೋಹ ಸ್ವಭಾವದ
- serpentine in Gujarati
- સર્પની
- serpentine in Odia
- ସର୍ପାକାର
- serpentine in Arabic
- ثُعْبَانِيّ ṯuʕbāniyy
Examples of serpentine in a sentence
- A garden can do with a little mystery, which serpentine paths provide.
- Two distinct vein systems are to be noted as a result of the asbestosization of the serpentine.
- When serpentine lower halves have adorable repercussions?
Synonyms of serpentine
Forms of serpentine
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more serpentine |
| superlative | most serpentine |
| Noun | |
| plural | serpentines |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | serpentines |
| present participle | serpentining |
| past participle | serpentined |
| past | serpentined |
Origin of serpentine
From Middle English serpentine, from Old French serpentin, from Latin serpentīnus, from serpēns (“serpent”), equivalent to serpent + -ine.
Words formed from serpentine
Phrases with serpentine
Words that rhyme with serpentine
Questions about serpentine
- What does serpentine mean?
- Serpentine means of, pertaining to, or characteristic of snakes.
- What is serpentine in Hindi?
- Serpentine in Hindi is ज़हर मोहरा (zahar mohrā). See Serpentine meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is serpentine?
- Serpentine can be an adjective, a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce serpentine?
- Serpentine is pronounced /ˈsɜː.pənˌtaɪn/ (UK).
Words near serpentine in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: serpentine (page history and authors); Serpentine (page history and authors); serpentine (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); serpentine (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); serpentine (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); serpentine (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); serpentine (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); serpentine (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); serpentine (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); serpentine (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-serpentine-adj.ogg.
Cite this entry: “serpentine.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/serpentine. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.