Serpentine means winding in curves like a snake. A serpentine road, serpentine path, serpentine and slow.
It describes rivers, roads and queues, and it is more literary than winding. A serpentine river bends because faster water on the outside of a curve erodes the bank and slower water inside drops silt, which deepens the bend over time. Serpentine is also a green mineral. Note serpent.
1adjectiveserpentineWinding in curves like a snake.
“A serpentine path wound its way down the hillside to the beach.”
serpentine is a quality of winding.
Latin serpentinus comes from serpens, a snake, from serpere, to creep. Serpent and creep come from the same crawling.
Latin
serpentīnus
Old French
serpentin
Middle English
serpentine
English, today
serpentine
Built from
From Middle English serpentine, from Old French serpentin, from Latin serpentīnus, from serpēns (“serpent”), equivalent to serpent + ine.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA