ophidian

adjective

ophid·​i·​an ō-ˈfi-dē-ən 

: of, relating to, or resembling snakes

ophidian noun

Examples of ophidian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In places with rich ophidian faunas, dozens of antivenins may therefore need to be kept to hand. —The Economist, 30 Dec. 2020

Finally, though, Raymer does rise to the occasion, tracking down a hit-and-run driver and putting an end (with an ophidian exclamation point) to the criminal career of one of the book’s more unsavory characters. —T. Coraghessan Boyle, New York Times, 3 May 2016

Word History

Etymology

New Latin Ophidia, order or suborder name (from ophid-, probably taken mistakenly as stem of Greek óphis "snake" + -ia -ia entry 2) + -an entry 2; óphis (i-stem) going back to Indo-European *h₃eg^whi- "snake," whence also Sanskrit áhiḥ "snake," Avestan aži-, and perhaps Armenian iž "viper"

Note: So reconstructed by R. Beekes (Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2010) and A. Sihler (New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, 1995), partly on the grounds that an original o (*og^whi-) would produce Sanskrit *ā́hiḥ by Brugmann's Law. However, the presumed Indo-European by-form *h₂eng^wh-,*h₂n̥g^wh-, with a nasal, is generally reconstructed with *h₂; this etymon is more widely attested, with various suffixal formations: Old High German unk "snake, lizard," Old Irish escung "eel" (from a compound meaning "water-snake" or "fish-snake"), Welsh llysywen "eel" (with llys- "somewhat, half, false"), Latin anguis "snake," Russian už "grass snake (Natrix natrix)," Polish wąż "snake," Lithuanian angìs "adder," Latvian odze, Armenian awj "snake." Greek also has échis "snake," which, if it is connected with the word for "hedgehog" (see echino-), goes back to *h₁eǵhi-, which may or may not be another unexplained by-form.

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined above