GC: n

S: NatGeo – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/facts/snakes-1 (last access: 7 September 2024); SDir – https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/snake (last access: 7 September 2024).

N: 1. Middle English snake, “a long, limbless reptile,” from Old English snaca, from Proto-Germanic *snakon (source also of Old Norse snakr “snake,” Swedish snok, German Schnake “ring snake”), from PIE root *sneg- “to crawl, creeping thing” (source also of Old Irish snaighim “to creep,” Lithuanian snakė “snail,” Old High German snahhan “to creep”). In Modern English, gradually replacing serpent in popular use.

Traditionally applied to the British serpent, as distinguished from the venomous adder. Applied from 17c. to various snake-like devices and appliances. Snakes! as an exclamation is from 1839.

The meaning “treacherous person” is attested by 1580s (it was used of Satan in early 15c., and serpent and adder are older in this sense) Compare Old Church Slavonic gadu “reptile,” gadinu “foul, hateful.” The snake’s reputation was not helped by the Genesis story, but the notion is older. The phrase snake in the grass “underhand, plotting, deceitful person” translates Virgil’s Latet anguis in herba [Ecl. III:93].

Snake eyes in crap-shooting, “a throw of two ones” (the lowest possible roll), is from 1919, hence the association with bad luck. This might have influenced snake-bitten, snake-bit “unlucky,” attested in sports slang by 1957, which also might be from a literal sense (attested by 1807), perhaps suggesting one doomed by a venomous bite.

The board game of Snakes and Ladders is attested from 1907. Snake charmer is from 1813. Snake pit is from 1883, as a supposed primitive test of truth or courage; the figurative sense is from 1941. Snake dance is by 1772 in reference to a Hopi ceremony; by 1911 as a party dance.

2. Also known as: Serpentes, serpent.

• snake, (suborder Serpentes), any of more than 3,400 species of reptiles distinguished by their limbless condition and greatly elongated body and tail. Classified with lizards in the order Squamata, snakes represent a lizard that, over the course of evolution, has undergone structural reduction, simplification, and loss as well as specialization. All snakes lack external limbs, but not all legless reptiles are snakes. Certain burrowing lizards may have only front or hind limbs or be completely legless. Unlike lizards, snakes lack movable eyelids, which results in a continuous and often disconcerting stare. Snakes also lack external ear openings. Internally, they have lost the urinary bladder. The visceral organs are elongated, with reduction of the left member in relation to the right; the left lung is greatly reduced or even lost entirely. However, snakes possess increased numbers of vertebrae and have developed two novelties among vertebrates: a tracheal lung in the neck region and a venom-conducting system for subduing prey.
• Snakes are thought to have evolved from terrestrial lizards as early as the Middle Jurassic Epoch (174.1 million to 163.5 million years ago). The oldest known fossil snake, Eophis underwoodi, was a small snake that lived in southern England about 167 million years ago.

3. Snakes and humans.

• Snakes are misunderstood and often maligned, primarily out of ignorance about their true nature and position in the natural world. All snakes are predators, but venomous snakes (that is, biting snakes that use their fangs to inject toxins into their victims) have given an inaccurate reputation to the entire group, as most people cannot tell the dangerous from the harmless. Only a small percentage (fewer than 300 species) are venomous, and of those only about half are capable of inflicting a lethal bite. Although snakebite mortality worldwide is estimated at 80,000–140,000 people per year, the majority of deaths occur in Southeast Asia, principally because of poor medical treatment, malnutrition of victims, and a large number of venomous species. Although there are about 8,000 venomous snakebites per year in the United States, the average number of annual fatalities is less than 10 or so per year—fewer than are attributed to bee stings and lightning strikes. In Mexico, 10 times as many people die annually from bee stings as from snakebites.

4. Snakes can control the amount of venom they inject and may bite aggressively for food or defensively for protection. Snakes have a limited amount of venom available at any given time and do not want to waste it on nonprey organisms. As a result, about 40 percent of bites suffered by humans are defensive in nature and “dry” (without envenomation). Statistics show that the vast majority of snakebites occur while either catching and handling captive snakes or trying to molest or kill wild ones. In either case, the snake is only defending itself. Rattlesnakes, for example, are venomous, and large ones are quite dangerous owing to the amount of venom they can inject. However, most are shy and retreating, and none will attack a person unmolested. When approached or molested, they will coil up and rattle as a warning to be left alone, striking only as a last resort. Most cases of reputed snake attack are based upon encroachment by a person into the snake’s territory, which makes it feel trapped or cornered, or provocation of a snake during the breeding season. Even in these scenarios, only two snakes have a reputation as dangerous aggressors: the black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) of Africa and the king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) of Southeast Asia. Nevertheless, snakes are inoffensive under the vast majority of circumstances. People are rarely indifferent about them, generally exhibiting emotions that range from religious awe and superstitious dread to repulsion and uncontrollable fear. It is interesting to note that, although most people profess to fear or hate snakes, one of the most visited areas of any zoo is the snake house—proof that snakes are mysterious and fascinating, even if they are loathed. Given their exquisite colours, patterns, and graceful movements as they crawl, swim, or climb, some snakes can be considered among the most beautiful animals.

S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=snake (last access: 7 September 2024). 2 to 4. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/animal/snake (last access: 7 September 2024). 5. OCD – https://m.freecollocation.com/browse/snake (last access: 8 September 2024). 6. HISTUS – https://www.history.com/news/snake-symbol-history-mythology (last access: 7 September 2024).

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CR: zoonosis