Etymology From Middle English serpent, from Old French serpent (“snake, serpent”), from Latin serpēns (“snake”), present active participle of serpere (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-Italic *serpō, from Proto-Indo-European *serp-. In this sense, displaced native Old English nǣdre (“snake, serpent”), whence Modern English adder. Compare Sanskrit सर्प (sarpa, “snake”), which is a descendant of the same Proto-Indo-European word as serpent.
He falls into it, who has digg'd a Pit. Who breaks a Hedge is with a Serpent bit.1712, A. Hill, chapter 9, in The Book of Ecclesiastes Paraphrased. A Divine Poem., Newcastle upon Tyne: J. White, page 38:
Coiled up behind the shrub, […] was a green imamba, the most dreaded of all South African serpents.1879, Charles H. Eden, chapter III, in Ula, in Veldt and Laager: A Tale of the Zulus., copyright edition, Hamburg: Karl Grädener, page 45:
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Any serpent six feet long looks formidable; and over that length, one takes on the aspect of a chimera.1946 October, Archibald Rutledge, “Along Nature's Trail”, in Boys' Life, volume 36, number 10, Boy Scouts of America, Inc., →ISSN, page 40:
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Figuratively A subtle, treacherous, malicious person.
He is a very serpent in my way.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
'Dogs and serpents,' She began in a low voice that gradually gathered power as she went on, till the place rang with it. Eaters of human flesh, two things have ye done. First, ye have attacked these strangers, being white men, and would have slain their servant, and for that alone death is your reward.'1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music An obsolete wind instrument in the brass family, whose shape is suggestive of a snake (Wikipedia article).
Then Beowulf too rallied. With his whetted dagger he slit a gash in the serpent's middle.1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 46:
Etymology From Middle English serpent, from Old French serpent (“snake, serpent”), from Latin serpēns (“snake”), present active participle of serpere (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-Italic *serpō, from Proto-Indo-European *serp-. In this sense, displaced native Old English nǣdre (“snake, serpent”), whence Modern English adder. Compare Sanskrit सर्प (sarpa, “snake”), which is a descendant of the same Proto-Indo-European word as serpent.
fruit-trees, whose boles are serpented with excellent vines1645 February 9 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for January 31 1645]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC: