reptitious
adjUK /ɹəpˈtɪʃəs/ · US /ɹɛpˈtɪʃəs/
Etymology From Late Latin reptitius (“creeping”), corruption of Latin reperticius, from reptus (“crept, crawled”) + -īcius (“-itious”), from rēpere (“to creep, to crawl”), modified by English -ious, q.v. Cognate with repent, reptant, reptile, reptilious, surreptitious.
1
Obsolete Synonym of reptile: creeping, crawling.
- Reptitious, ſtealing or creeping on by degrees.[1658, Edward Phillips, compiler, “Reptitious”, in The New World of English Words: Or, A General Dictionary: […], London: […] E. Tyler, for Nath[aniel] Brook […], →OCLC, column 2:
- Reptile or Reptitious, that creeps; or, by privy means, gets to high estate.1661, Thomas Blount, Glossographia, 2nd ed., s.v. "Reptile or Reptitious"
1 more example
- Some Serpents are reptitious, creep on the Belly, and some have Feet.1742, Charles Owen, An Essay towards a Natural History of Serpents, page 2:
2
Obsolete Synonym of reptilian: reptilelike, (figuratively) cold-blooded, treacherous.
- Reptile or Reptitious, that creeps; or, by privy means, gets to high estate.1661, Thomas Blount, Glossographia, 2nd ed., s.v. "Reptile or Reptitious"
- Whether [dysentery] proceeds from... some Occult cause, no venomous Creature living [in Ireland] to suck that which may be thought... well distributed amongst reptitious Animals, I shall not determine.1675, Edmund Borlase, The Reduction of Ireland to the Crown of England, page 172: