Colubridae
/kəˈluːbrɪdiː/noun
A taxonomic family of snakes, commonly known as colubrids, containing many mostly nonvenomous species.
Did you know?The family name uses the zoological suffix -idae, a standardized taxonomic ending derived from Greek patronymics meaning “the family or descendants of.”
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Latin
Latin
coluber
“Snake or serpent, especially a large or dangerous one”
Classical Latin
Latin
colubra
“A female snake or serpent; the feminine form related to coluber”
16th–17th Century
Portuguese
cobra
“Snake, shortened from the phrase cobra de capello, “hooded snake””
18th Century
New Latin
Coluber
“A formal zoological genus name based on the ancient Latin word for snake”
1811
New Latin
Colubridae
“A zoological family name formed from Coluber with the standard family suffix -idae”
Modern English
English
Colubridae
“The family comprising colubrid snakes, a highly diverse snake group”