Illustrative Context

He jumped when he saw the snake.

Target Sense

• The most generic term for a snake as a general body-form of animal, in popular perception seen prototypically as a scaly lizard, without legs, and which moves by a writhing movement.
• Follow common usage and basic vocabulary. Strict technical and biological classification criteria are not necessarily relevant — see also the definition for the separate IE-CoR meaning ant.
• Enter the most neutral term for the type of animal, of this body form. Avoid narrower lexemes that inherently bear particular connotations, even if common ones, such as danger, unpleasantness, or indeed religious interpretations.
• Enter the generic term for the form of animal in general. Do not enter narrower terms for a particular type or individual species of snake, even if this is the most common in a particular region or language.
• Some languages have two (or more) common lexemes that may distinguish different types of snake, e.g. venomous vs. non-venomous, constricting vs. venomous, or by size. In such languages, enter the most basic lexeme, the one with the widest applicability, especially if it remains also the default, generic term for snakes when the type is unknown or not specified. So in German the default term is Schlange, not Natter, and in French it is serpent, not (venomous) vipere nor (non-venomous) couleuvre).
• If a language has no generic cover term, but only multiple terms exclusive to different types or sizes of snake, then select the term considered most basic. If that is not clear-cut, select the term most naturally applied to a prototypical case of a venomous snake of medium size, defined here as between 1 and 2 metres long, and between 2 and 5cm thick.
• In some languages, a lexeme that was originally specific species word has since lost that specificity, and extended to become the default term for the form of animal in general. In such cases, this semantic shift does qualify that lexeme as the IE-CoR target, e.g. some varieties of Spanish use culebra as the default generic lexeme, replacing serpiente, which has become more narrowly elevated in register. (Contrast this with the corresponding cognates in French, where serpent remains the default generic lexeme, while couleuvre still refers more specifically to a particular type of non-venomous snake.)
• Enter the default register term. Avoid terms that are literary, poetic or otherwise formal or slang. The target lexeme in English is thus snake, not serpent.
• The target term is the literal one for the type of animal. Avoid terms that are predominantly figurative, e.g. imagery for unpleasant animals or indeed people, e.g. viper.
• See also, and contrast with, the definition of the separate IE-CoR meaning worm.