English → Latin
“viper” in Latin
vīperaadder, snake, serpent, viper; someone who is malicious, vicious, treacherousimprobusexcessive, immoderate, flagrant, impudent; greedy, wanton, ravenous; wicked, bad, villainous, immoral, impious, maliciouscelestuswicked, villainous, criminal, abominable; calamitous, unfortunate
The English word viper itself goes back to Latin pariō, through vīpera.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
viper
vipera (PROP. and figuratively, Cic.): *coluber berus (Linn.). Viper’s brood, generation of vipers, (figuratively) homines nequissimi, improbissimi, scelestissimi. (The words are found in this connection and order.) nequissimi atque improbissimi (Cic.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for viper?
- The usual Latin words for “viper” are vīpera, improbus, scelestus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.