aspic [L18th] This jelly gets its name from the French word for a snake which appears in English as ‘asp’—a small southern European viper, which gets its name from Greek. There has been much debate why this should be. The best suggestion is that it is something to do with the colour, shapes or patterns in the jellies in the 18th century although there is a French expression froid comme un aspic ‘as cold as an asp’, which would make the association with coldness.