serpent

«serpent» in Mova's early modern english dictionary: snake — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

kind

archaic word

modern equivalent

snake

part of speech

noun

meaning for a pupil

A snake, especially a large one. tree →

how it differs from today

Today serpent is literary or old-fashioned; everyday speech says snake. The sentences use the same sense as the dictionary.

examples

• And the serpent said unto the woman: 'Ye shall not surely die; (Torah GEN.3.4, JPS 1917) tree →
• THE SERPENT-TSAREVICH AND HIS TWO WIVES (Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk Tales) tree →
• Their wine is the venom of serpents, and the cruel poison of asps. (Torah DEU.32.33, JPS 1917) tree →

primary record

serpent

tests

rate: word (≥3 uses, never in EWT or ≥10× EWT, Wiktionary: first sense archaic); corpora 348 (Torah 14, tales 331, Sefer Yetzirah 3); EWT 1; ratio 13.1 (Torah alone 10.9); Wiktionary archaic (first sense)

In the corpora

• Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.
• And the woman said unto the serpent: 'Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
• And the serpent said unto the woman: 'Ye shall not surely die;
• For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents; but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.
• And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «serpent» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.