Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SER'PEN-TINE, a. [L. serpentinus, from serpens.]

1. Resembling a serpent; usually, winding or turning one way and the other, like a moving serpent; anfractuous; as, a serpentine road or course.
2. Spiral; twisted; as, a serpentine worm of a still.
3. Like a serpent; having the color or properties of a serpent. Serpentine tongue, in the manege. A horse is said to have a serpentine tongue, when he is constantly moving it, and sometimes passing it over the bit. – Encyc. Serpentine verse, a verse which begins and ends with the same word.