'snakelike' originates from English, specifically the combination of the noun 'snake' (Old English 'snaca') and the suffix '-like' (Old English 'līc'), where 'snaca' meant 'snake' and 'līc' meant 'body, form' (so '-like' conveyed 'having the form of').

'snake' changed from Proto-Germanic (reconstructed) '*snak-an' into Old English 'snaca', while the adjective-forming element comes from Old English 'līc' through Middle English 'like'; these elements combined in Modern English to form 'snakelike' (also written 'snake-like').

Initially it meant 'having the form or movement of a snake'; over time it retained that physical sense and also developed figurative senses such as 'sly' or 'treacherous'.