What does "ophidian" mean?

Any species of the suborder Serpentes; a snake or serpent.

What is a synonym for "ophidian"?

Common synonyms include: amphibian, anguine, anguine, batrachian, crawling, creeping.

//oʊˈfɪdi.ən// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Any species of the suborder Serpentes; a snake or serpent.
"Vertebral structure is critical for the identification of fossil snakes, because vertebrae are among the most easily fossilized parts of ophidians."
2
limbless scaly elongate reptile; some are venomous wordnet

Adjective

1
Of or pertaining to the suborder Serpentes; of, related to, or characteristic of a snake or serpent.
"The ophidian beast began to glow eerily, and Aaron could discern a fine webwork of veins and capillaries running throughout the creature's body."

"Vertebral structure is critical for the identification of fossil snakes, because vertebrae are among the most easily fossilized parts of ophidians."

From Latin ophidia (from Ancient Greek ὄφις (óphis, “snake”)) + -ian.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.