a1400 Stockholm Med. MS. ii. 651 in Anglia XVIII. 323 Dragaunce & serpentyn in same And nedderistonge, alle on be name.

1526 Grete Herball ccccx. sig. Yiij/2 Powdre of serpentyne put alone in to y^e eye is good to clense the eye of the pynne & webbe.

1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Serpentine [1572 adds or serpentarie,..dracuntium..Vulgo Serpentaria].

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 611 Fænegreek..is called also Serpentine, because when Snakes..are hurt therewith, they recouer their woundes by eating therof.

c1450 Brut ccl. 505 Many other gret gonnes & serpentines.

1485 in H. E. Holden Cely Papers (1900) 177 iiij small sarpentynus with vij chamburs of on mackyng.

1513 in J. B. Paul Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1902) IV. 484 For iij scharpentynnis..to the greit schip.

1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. xiv. 70 A Sarpentine. Height [= bore] in Inches 1½.

1824 S. R. Meyrick Crit. Inq. into Antient Armour II. 201 In the year 1474 King Edward the Fourth directed all the bombs, cannons, culverines, fowlers, serpentines..to be taken and provided for his use.

1863 J. F. Kirk Hist. Charles the Bold II. 451 The battering-train consisted of thirty bombards and fifty large serpentines.

1426 in F. W. Weaver Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 118 [My best covered cup of silver and gilt, with one] serpentyn [in the bottom (in fundo) of the said cup].

J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes (1916) l. 1263 A ston ys ther, That the serpent may noght hym noght dere. The name off home serpentyne ys.

1561–2 New Yrs. Gifts in J. Nichols Progresses Queen Elizabeth (1823) I. 114 A small coller of serpentyne garneshed with silver gilt.

1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 181 In the bottome of this manger, and just in the middle a round Serpentine is set.

1644 J. Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 97 Four pillars of a kind of serpentine.

1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. IV. 117 The seats of the chairs in this apartment are of Serpentine.

1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 466 Serpentine..is either compact, granulated, scaly, lamellated, or fibrous.

1874 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 380 The main ridge seems to be made up of a series of metamorphic slates, sandstones, and serpentines.

c1440 Alphabet of Tales 434 This sakett and þis gold is not þine, for þou says þou lost ij serpentynys and here-in is bod one.

1519 in J. Noake Monastery & Cathedral Worcester (1866) 185 A limbeke with a serpentyn closed both on oun.

1584 T. Cogan Hauen of Health ccxxii. 227 Distill it with a Limbecke or Serpentine.

1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Serpentina,..a kind of winding limbecke called a Serpentine or doubble ss.

1694 W. Salmon Pharmacopœia Bateana i. iv. 34/2 Then distil twenty four hours, and distil through a Serpentine or Worm.

1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique Qq 4/2 A Canal made of Tin,..very long, and winding..; For which Reason they have given it the Name of Serpentine.

1885 Forestry 209 This is subjected to a cooling process, in this case a serpentine of cold water.

1590 J. Smythe Certain Disc. Weapons 21 b If Harque~buziers in putting their matches into their serpentines do faile to set them of a conuenient length.

1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Serpentina, an iron at the end of a Gunners Linstocke called a cocke or serpentine.

1881 W. W. Greener Gun & its Devel. 45 The serpentin is hung upon a pivot passing through the stock and continued past the pivot, forming a lever.]

1639 T. de Gray Compl. Horseman ii. v. 94 Pin and web, Dragons, Serpentines, and such numberlesse Sorances.

1700 P. Rycaut Hist. Turks III. 134 He was afflicted with a Distemper called a Serpentine or Cancer, which some Years since was caused by an Erysipelas.

1767 Jrnl. Voy. H.M.S. Dolphin 15 The rich [at Salvador, Brazil] cause themselves to be carried about in a kind of cotton hammocks called serpentines.

1711 Mil. & Sea Dict. (ed. 4) Caracol, as Wheel by Caracol; used only among the Horse, and is a Serpentine or Rounding Motion of Wheeling.]

1861 T. Martin Bk. of Aids ii. 25 Serpentine,..the leading file inclines to the right across the school,..and makes a zigzag course down the school.

1946 M. C. Self Horseman's Encycl. 364 The serpentine may be done at all gaits, the faster the gait the larger in diameter the turns.

1976 R. L. V. ffrench Blake Elem. Dressage 72 In the Intermediate test..there is a six-loop serpentine the full width of the arena with flying changes.

1986 Your Horse Sept. 34/3 The rider should..be capable of riding basic school movements—turns, circles, serpentines and loops.

c1422 T. Hoccleve Min. Poems (1892) 236 This serpentyn womman..shee That had him terned with false deceitis.

a1492 W. Caxton tr. Vitas Patrum (1495) i. xl. f. lviii^v/1 An euyll and serpentyne tongue full of venyme.

1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Loue in Wks. G. Chaucer i. f. cccxxxii^v Enemyes..wol seche priuy serpentynes queyntyses, to quenche..by venym of many besynesses the light of truthe.

c1540 Image Ipocrysy ii, in J. Skelton Poet. Wks. (1843) II. 426 Sectes serpentyne.

1599 E. Sandys Europæ Speculum (1632) 96 A serpentine generation, wholly made of fraud, of policies and practises.

1637 C. Dow Answer to H. Burton 25 The poysoned shafts of his serpentine tongue.

1663 R. Boyle Some Considerations Usefulnesse Exper. Nat. Philos. i. ii. 31 A serpentine warinesse in declining dangers.

1752 W. Law Spirit of Love (1816) ii. 125 All that is earthly, serpentine, and devilish in every man.

1830 Westm. Rev. 13 84 In De Foe's time the serpentine temptation consisted in laced shoes instead of leathern.

1873 W. H. Dixon Hist. Two Queens III. xiv. vi. 99 With serpentine deceit, she said the King was cheerful in his trials.

1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 249 All that intestine and serpentine-like tragedie.

1887 P. McNeill Blawearie 93 The gentle serpentine-like curvings of the wall-sides.

1867 Philatelist 1 103/1 This, which has been called serpentine-pierced, is found..on the..stamps of Finland.

1941 Elliott & Lynch in N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. 15 Sept. 179/1 The name serpentine superphosphate will be used in future in place of ‘silico superphosphate’, as it is a more accurate description of the material. It is made by mixing three parts of hot, newly-made superphosphate with one part of ground serpentine and allowing the mixture to ‘mature’ in heaps for several days.

1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. x. 143/1 Serpentinite is quarried in considerable quantity in New Zealand for the manufacture of ‘serpentine-superphosphate’.

1850 C. Dickens David Copperfield xxxv. 365 If you're an eel, sir, conduct yourself like one... I am not going to be serpentined and corkscrewed out of my senses!

1870 W. Thornbury Tour Eng. I. i. 25 He serpentined water through the gardens, and built two bridges.

1883 D. C. Murray Valentine Strange III. xxiv. 243 ‘My dear,’ said Hiram, serpentining his long arm about her.