Asp (snake)

This article is about the Anglicised word for various species of snake. For the species known as the "European asp", see Vipera aspis.
European asp, Vipera aspis

"Asp" is the modern anglicisation of the word "aspis", which in antiquity referred to any one of several venomous snake species found in the Nile region.[1] The specific epithet, aspis, is a Greek word that means "viper".[2] It is believed that aspis referred to what is now known as the Egyptian cobra.[3]

  1. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 2007. ISBN 978-0199206872.
  2. ^ Gotch AF. 1986. Reptiles – Their Latin Names Explained. Poole, UK: Blandford Press. 176 pp. ISBN 0-7137-1704-1.
  3. ^ Schneemann, M.; R. Cathomas; S.T. Laidlaw; A.M. El Nahas; R.D.G. Theakston; D.A. Warrell (August 2004). "Life-threatening envenoming by the Saharan horned viper (Cerastes cerastes) causing micro-angiopathic haemolysis, coagulopathy and acute renal failure: clinical cases and review" (PDF). QJM: An International Journal of Medicine. 97 (11): 717–27. doi:10.1093/qjmed/hch118. PMID 15496528. Whether Cleopatra used a snake as the instrument of her suicide has been long debated. Some favour the idea that she chose C. cerastes, but its venom is insufficiently potent, rapid and reliable. A more plausible candidate is the Egyptian cobra or 'asp' (Naja haje).