Opisthoglyph

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A venomous snake that has its venom-delivering fangs located at the back of its upper jaw rather than at the front
2. A serpent bearing fangs toward the rear of its mouth that inject venom into prey when biting and chewing
3. A venomous snake species characterized by fangs positioned in the posterior part of the mouth instead of anteriorly

Etymology: "Opisthoglyph" is built from two Greek elements: "opistho-", meaning "behind" or "at the back", and "glyph", from Greek "glyphē", meaning "carving" or "notch". Together they name a snake whose grooved, enlarged teeth sit toward the rear of the upper jaw rather than at the front, where the fangs of vipers and cobras are located. The "glyph" element is the same root that gives English "hieroglyph" (literally "sacred carving") and "glyptic," the art of engraving gems. Its sense of a cut or groove explains the anatomy here: these back teeth have a channel along their length, and the image is of a tooth grooved like something carved. The prefix "opistho-" appears in other scientific coinages, such as "opisthobranch" for a group of sea slugs with gills set toward the back of the body.