noun · masculinesecond declension
coluber
coluber m (genitive colubrī)
Classical[ˈkɔ.ɫʊ.bɛr]Ecclesiastical[ˈkɔː.lu.ber]
Mille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- masculinesnake, serpent
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
parva serpēns.coluber -brī m — in Mille Verba, Animālia
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Repere · Serpere · Serpens · Anguis · Coluber
1. Repere means, with small feet and short steps, to move slowly along, to creep; whereas serpere, without feet, by merely twisting the whole body, and without noise to move forward, to creep on the belly. 2. Serpens (ἕρπων) is the general name for whatever creeps like a snake, like ἑρπετόν; anguis (ἔγχος, ἔγχελυς?) is a great formidable snake, ὄφις; coluber (ἀσκάλαφος) a small, spiteful snake, ἔχις, ἔχιδνα. (v. 341.)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | coluber | colubrī colobrī |
| genitive | colubrī colobrī | colubrōrum colobrōrum |
| dative | colubrō colobrō | colubrīs colobrīs |
| accusative | colubrum colobrum | colubrōs colobrōs |
| ablative | colubrō colobrō | colubrīs colobrīs |
| vocative | coluber | colubrī colobrī |
cŏlŭber, bri, m. akin to celer,
I. a serpent, snake (poet.), Verg. G. 2, 320; 3, 418; id. A. 2, 471 (an imitation of Hom. Il. 22, 93: ὡς δὲ δράκων, κ. τ. λ.); Ov. M. 4, 620; 11, 775; Col. 10, 231.—
II. Esp., as an attributive of the hair of Medusa, the Furies, the Hydra, etc., Lucr. 5, 27; Ov. M. 9, 73; 10, 21; Luc. 6, 664; Val. Fl. 6, 175.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
coluber brī, m
1 CEL-, a serpent, snake, V.; of the Hydra, O.; of Medusa, O.; of Allecto, V.
Origins
Unknown origin, but possibly related in some way to colus (“distaff”), perhaps via a hypothetical Proto-Italic *kolozros.