sea-serpentn.
1. figurative.1885 Western Daily Press 6 Jan. 3/2 The affair, in short, has turned out to be the liveliest political ‘sea serpent’ seen for some time.
a. Any ophidian inhabiting the sea; esp. any of the venomous snakes of the order Hydrophidæ, inhabiting the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean.
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the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > [noun] > unspecified and miscellaneous types of
worm-kinc893
slow-wormOE
hagworm?c1475
salpege1569
scytale1572
house snake1608
porphyre1608
ellops1667
sea-serpent1672
tree-serpent1731
boyuna1763
whip-snake1774
garter-snake1775
switch-snake1791
argus-snake1802
rat snake1818
skaapsteker1818
sea-snake1827
short-tail1879
roof-snake1884
brown snake1896
herald-snake1910
night snake1918
parrot snake1931
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > [noun] > member of (snake) > aquatic
water addereOE
rinatrixa1398
water snake1527
water serpent1530
sea-adder1601
hydra1608
sea-serpent1672
water viper1737
sea-snake1827
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > member of family Hydrophidae
water snake1527
water serpent1530
hydra1608
sea-serpent1672
sea-snake1827
Hydrus1838
1672 Philos. Trans. 1671 (Royal Soc.) 6 3093 There are Serpents in Ceylon, which they call Sea-Serpents, 8, 9, or 10 Ells long; (I suppose he speaks of Dutch measure).
1674 J. Josselyn Acct. Two Voy. 23 They told me..of a Sea-Serpent or Snake, that lay quoiled up like a Cable upon a Rock at Cape-Ann.
1859–62 J. Richardson et al. Museum Nat. Hist. (1868) II. 49 The Sea or Pelagic Serpents (Hydrina) are not very numerous in species.
b. the (great) sea-serpent: a sea monster of serpentine form and great length, frequently reported to have been seen at sea.For conjectures as to the origin of the belief in the sea- serpent, see Encycl. Brit. (1886) XXI. 608–9.
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the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > aquatic monster or serpent
nickerOE
cetec1220
dragona1340
serra1449
hurlpool1553
afanc1573
orcc1590
sea monster1600
Hydrus1667
sea-dragon1749
kraken1755
sea-snake1755
Midgard1770
the (great) sea-serpent1774
sea-worm1799
taniwha1840
makara1873
Mamlambo1919
lau1923
Ogopogo1926
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VI. 193 To believe all that has been said of the sea-serpent, or the Kraken, would be credulity.
1820 Bigelow in Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 2 147–164.
2. Applied to various fishes.† a. A kind of eel or muraena found in the Mediterranean. Obsolete.† b. = ellops n. 2. Obsolete.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > subclass Actinopterygii > subdivision Teleostei > [noun] > order Anguilliformes > unspecified types
pimpernol1251
shaft-eel1411
kempc1440
snig1483
stub eel15..
fausen1547
shafflin1553
muraena1555
scaffling1589
grig1611
long-fish1611
stone-grig1666
sea-serpent1752
bed-eel1769
sniggle1863
slipper1866
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. A6v The Linge,..tunie,..sea-serpent, conger [etc.].
1740 R. Brookes Art of Angling ii. lxxix. 201 The Sea-Serpent..is commonly about five Foot long..is taken very frequently in the Mediterranean.
1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 237 The cylindrick Muræna, with the tail naked and acute. The Sea-serpent... It is frequent in the Mediterranean.
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1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. xxiv. 169 Many there be which make out their nominations, as the Hedg-hog, Sea-serpents, and others. View more context for this quotation
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VI. 310 The Elops or Sea serpent.
c. The king of the herrings, Regalecus glesne.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > [noun] > order Lampridiformes > member of family Regalecidae (oar-fish)
shelp1553
swathe-fish1668
riband fish1751
ribbonfish1798
sea-serpent1851
oarfish1860
tape-fish1885
paddlefish1953
1851 A. White List Brit. Fish Brit. Mus. 40 Regalecus Glesne. King of the Herrings... Sea Serpent.
3. = sea-snake n. 3.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > division Molluscoidea > [noun] > division Tunicata > class Thaliacea > order Salpida > genus Salpa > chain of
sea-snake1863
sea-serpent1891
1891 in Cent. Dict.
4. (See quot. 1831.)
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > privateer or pirate ship > [noun] > pirate ship
pirate1569
pirate ship1570
Sallee-man1637
Sallee rover1734
sea-serpent1831
filibuster1860
1831 W. Scott Count Robert ii, in Tales of my Landlord 4th Ser. I. 27 Others navigated the Mediterranean in their sea-serpents, as they termed their piratical vessels.
Derivatives
sea-serpentism n. Apparently an isolated use.
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1877 Owen in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 33 699 The advocate for the sea-serpentism of the extinct Mosasauroids determines the pterygoids to be the palatines.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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