Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A constellation in the equatorial region of the northern sky, made up of two parts, Serpens Cauda, the “tail,” and Serpens Caput, the “head,” both near Hercules and Ophiuchus.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An ancient northern constellation intimately connected with, but not treated as a part of, Ophiuchus (which see).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Astron.) A constellation represented as a serpent held by Serpentarius.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A taxonomic genus within the family Pseudomonadaceae — a type of bacteria.
  • proper noun astronomy A large summer constellation of the northern sky said to resemble a snake. It is the only constellation consisting of two parts (Serpens Caput and Serpens Cauda) separated by the constellation Ophiuchus, representing the snake handler Asclepius.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a constellation in the equatorial region of the northern hemisphere near Ophiuchus and Corona Borealis

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin Serpēns, from serpēns, serpent; see serpent.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin serpēns ("a snake").

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Examples

  • The particular one that I have in mind, which was the subject of a column here in 1996, showed three newborn stars, eight or ten times as massive as our own sun, in the Eagle Nebula, M16 in the constellation known as Serpens, seven thousand light-years distant from Earth.

    Asimov's Science Fiction 2004

  • When the Lord of Evil, or Devil, symbolized by the serpent and represented by the constellation "Serpens" placed in conjunction with the Autumnal Equinox, meeting them on the confines of his dominion, and tempting the woman, and she the man, they ate of the forbidden fruit; thus, falling from their first estate, and committing the original sin, they involved the whole human race in the consequences of their disobedience.

    Astral Worship J. H. Hill

  • Lord of Evil, and as such, symbolizing him by the serpent, marked the beginning of his reign by the constellation "Serpens," placed in conjunction with the Autumnal Equinox.

    Astral Worship J. H. Hill

  • "Serpens" placed in conjunction with the Autumnal Equinox; we will now direct attention to the symbols under which he was worshipped as Lord of Good, which, corresponding to the form of the constellation in which occurred the Vernal Equinox, and which was changed to correspond to the form of the succeeding constellation as that Cardinal point passed into it, by that process, known in Astronomy, as the precession of the

    Astral Worship J. H. Hill

  • Ophiuchus, Greek for 'serpent-bearer,' is a large constellation that falls along the celestial equator, and falls between Aquila, Serpens, and Hercules in the northwest center of the Milky Way.

    What Is Ophiuchus? The Huffington Post 2011

  • The night gathered around him in outer space, deepening to a midnight of the soul on the run between Serpens Cauda and the belt of Orion.

    The Soul of Yeats « Unknowing 2009

  • Ophiuchus, Greek for 'serpent-bearer,' is a large constellation that falls along the celestial equator, and falls between Aquila, Serpens, and Hercules in the northwest center of the Milky Way.

    What Is Ophiuchus? The Huffington Post 2011

  • Ophiuchus is depicted as a man holding a snake, as the constellation splits Serpens into two smaller constellations, Serpens Caput and Serpens Cauda, which are otherwise counted as one.

    What Is Ophiuchus? The Huffington Post 2011

  • Ophiuchus is depicted as a man holding a snake, as the constellation splits Serpens into two smaller constellations, Serpens Caput and Serpens Cauda, which are otherwise counted as one.

    What Is Ophiuchus? The Huffington Post 2011

  • Corot-9b (unofficial nickname Carrot Nimby) regularly passes in front of its star, located 1,500 light-years away from Earth towards the constellation of Serpens (the Snake), allowing astronomers to view the planet for 8 hours at a time.

    Finally, a "Normal" Exoplanet | Universe Today 2010

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