Couleuvre
/kuːˈluːvə(r)/noun
A nonvenomous snake, especially a grass snake or other colubrid snake.
Did you know?The same Latin serpent word ultimately names the scientific snake family Colubridae, making couleuvre a poetic cousin of modern zoological terminology.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Latin
Latin
colubra
“Female snake; the feminine form of coluber”
Late Latin
Latin
colubra
“A snake, especially a nonvenomous snake”
Old French
Old French
coluevre
“Snake or serpent”
Middle French
French
couleuvre
“A snake, particularly a nonvenomous one”
Modern English
English
couleuvre
“A nonvenomous snake, adopted from French”