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Serpentine vs Alabaster - What's the difference?

serpentine | alabaster |

As adjectives the difference between serpentine and alabaster

is that serpentine is sinuous; curving in alternate directions while alabaster is made of alabaster.

As nouns the difference between serpentine and alabaster

is that serpentine is any of several plants believed to cure snakebites while alabaster is a fine-grained white or lightly-tinted variety of gypsum, used ornamentally.

As a verb serpentine

is to serpentize; to turn or bend; to meander.

As a proper noun Serpentine

is the lake in Hyde Park, London.

serpentine

English

(wikipedia serpentine)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) serpentin, from (etyl) .

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Sinuous; curving in alternate directions.
    • The serpentine path through the mountains was narrow and dangerous.
  • Having the shape or form of a snake.
    • There are serpentine species of lizards which do not have legs.
  • Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of snakes.
  • Of, or having attributes associated with, the mythological serpent, such as craftiness or deceitfulness.
    • The wily criminal was known for his serpentine behavior.
    Synonyms
    * : sinuous, tortuous, winding * (having the form of a snake): ophidian

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any of several plants believed to cure snakebites.
  • An early form of cannon.
  • A coiled distillation tube.
  • (maths) Any of several related cubic curves; anguinea

    • Verb

    (serpentin)
  • (archaic) To serpentize; to turn or bend; to meander.
  • * Lord Lyttelton
    • There were two little lakes, or rather large pools which stood in the bottom, whence issued a rivulet which serpentined in view for two or three miles, offering a pleasing relief to the eye.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) serpentine, from resemblance to a serpent's skin.

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (geology, botany) Of or characteristic of serpentine rocks or the plants that grow there.

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (label) Any of several green/brown minerals consisting of a magnesium and iron silicates that have similar layered crystal structure.
  • (geology) An outcrop or region with soil and rock dominated by these minerals.
    • Hyponyms
    * (mineral) antigorite, chrysotile, lizardite ----

    alabaster

    English

    (wikipedia alabaster)

    Alternative forms

    * alabastre (obsolete) * alablaster (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A fine-grained white or lightly-tinted variety of gypsum, used ornamentally.
  • * c. 1596 , , The Merchant of Venice , Act I, Scene I, lines 89-90
    • Why should a man, whose blood is warm within,
    Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster ?
  • * 1867 '', ''Paradiso , Canto XV, lines 22-23] (translated by [[w:Henry Wadsworth Longfellow", Henry Wadsworth Longfellow])
    • Nor was the flame dissevered from its ribbon
  • *:: But like a radiant fillet ran along
  • *:: So that fire seemed it behind alabaster .
  • * 1915 , The New York Times , " Egyptian Antiquities for Metropolitan" (pdf), 15 May
    • One of the striking relics found at the tomb, was a Canopic portrait head of Queen Tii, made entirely of alabaster except the eyes and eyebrows, which were inlaid lapis lazuli and osidian.
  • (historical) A variety of calcite, translucent and sometimes banded.

    • Adjective

    (-)
  • Made of alabaster
    • The crown is stored in an alabaster box with an onyx handle and a gold lock.
  • Resembling alabaster: white, pale, translucent.
    • An ominous alabaster fog settled in the valley.

    Quotations

    * 1594 , William Shakespeare, " The Rape of Lucrece", lines 418-420 *: With more than admiration he admir’d *:: Her azure veins, her alabaster skin, *:: Her coral lips, her snow-white dimpled chin. * 1611 , King James Version of the Bible, Mark 14:3 *: And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. * before 1887 , Emily Dickinson, " Safe in Their Alabaster Chambers" *: Safe in their alabaster chambers *: Untouched by morning, untouched by noon *: Sleep the meek members of the resurrection, *: Rafters of satin, and roof of stone. * 1895 , Katherine Lee Bates, "" *: Thy alabaster cities gleam *: Undimmed by human tears! *