Etymograph

English

serpentigenous

Serpentigenous comes from Latin serpens ‘a serpent, snake’, from serpō ‘crawl, creep’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *serp-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*serp-1‘to creep, crawl’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sérpeti2‘to creep, crawl’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*serpō2reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEserpō3‘crawl, creep’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEserpens4‘a serpent, snake’present active participle of serpō
  6. Englishtodayserpentigenous4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *sérpeti
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin serpo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin serpens
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English serpentigenous

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*serp-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *sérpeti‘to creep, crawl’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sérpetiWiktionary, Latin serpo‘to creep, crawl’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*serpōWiktionary, Latin serporeconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEserpōWiktionary, Latin serpens‘crawl, creep’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEserpensWiktionary, English serpentigenous‘a serpent, snake’present active participle of serpō
  6. EnglishtodayserpentigenousWiktionary, English serpentigenous

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sérpeti ‘to creep, crawl’

herpes, 5 more

Today it means

adj Bred of a serpent

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “serpentigenous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *sérpeti, Latin serpo, Latin serpens. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *serp- / serpentigenous

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