Elaphe

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A genus of non-venomous snakes commonly known as rat snakes, characterized by their robust bodies and distinctive patterns
2. A type of colubrid snake often found in North America, known for its ability to constrict its prey
3. Any member of a group of snakes that typically display vibrant coloration and are popular in the pet trade due to their docile nature

Etymology: Elaphe is the scientific name of a genus of colubrid snakes, including the corn snake and the rat snakes of Asia and Europe. It is a modern coinage, not an ancient one: the genus was named in 1826 by the Austrian naturalist Leopold Fitzinger, who took the name from the Greek "elaphos", meaning "deer." Greek writers used the word for the deer itself, and the snakes were so named for their habit of colour and pattern, though the exact reason Fitzinger chose it is not something the sources spell out. The Greek root reaches further than the deer, since "elaphos" is connected to the Greek word for a deer-like animal with antlers, and the same stem sits behind words for light and nimbleness in other languages. Taxonomists of the nineteenth century often reached into classical Greek for genus names, so "Elaphe" fits that pattern: a Latinised form of an ordinary Greek noun, borrowed for a snake that no ancient author would have called by that name.

Synonyms: rat snake, corn snake, snake