nachtslang, noun

Forms:
Also nachtschlange, nachtslaang.
Origin:
South African DutchShow more South African Dutch, nacht night + slang snake, serpent.
obs.
Any of several nocturnal snakes. 1. night-adder sense 1. 2. Either of two snakes of the Elapidae: a. garter snake; b. the coral snake, Aspidelaps lubricus lubricus. 3. night-adder sense 2. In all senses also called night-serpent, night-snake.
1821 C.I. Latrobe Jrnl of Visit 124The bite of the Nachtschlange, or night-serpent, is said by the Hottentot poison-doctors, to be uncurable. It is..marked with dark blue or black, vermilion, and yellow rings.
1828 T. Pringle Ephemerides 111It is time to haste My homeward walk across the waste, Lest my rash tread provoke the wrath Of nachtslang coil’d across the path.
1834 T. Pringle Afr. Sketches 280There are several species of snakes which have come under my own observation, such as the nacht-slang (night-adder).
1834 T. Pringle Afr. Sketches 284I stood prepared, and instantly smote him dead; and afterwards found him to be one of the venomous sort called nachtslang.
1849 A. Smith Illust. of Zoo. of S. Afr.: Reptilia Appendix 19This snake occurs throughout Southern Africa, but nowhere in abundance. In the Colony it is, from its moving much during the night, known..by the name of Nacht Slang.
1883 M.A. Carey-Hobson Farm in Karoo 189Those little hornsmansches and nacht slaangs are as bad as any, although they are so small.
1937 Guide to Vertebrate Fauna of E. Cape Prov. (Albany Museum) II. 54Lamprophis aurora Linn. Nachtslang,..Olive brown or light olive-green above, with a long golden yellow line or row of orange spots from the top of the head along the centre of the back to the tip of the tail.
the coral snake, Aspidelaps lubricus lubricus.
night-adder sense 2. In all senses also called night-serpent, night-snake.
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