snaw

Forms

snāw m (strong a-stem; genitive singular snāwes, nominative plural snāwas)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *snaiw, from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz (“snow”).^[1][2] The noun is common Germanic: Gothic 𐍃𐌽𐌰𐌹𐍅𐍃 (snaiws), Old Norse snær, Old Saxon snēo and Old High German snēo.^[3][4][5]

Kroonen reconstructs the noun as an o-grade formation Proto-Indo-European *snoigʷʰ-o- to the root Proto-Indo-European *sneygʷʰ- (“to snow”).^[3][5] Outside Germanic the root gives Latin nix (“snow”) and Lithuanian sniegas (“snow”).^[4][6] Old English snīwan (“to snow”) is the verb of the same root.^[4][5]

Proto-Germanic /ai/ appears as ⟨ā⟩, beside the ⟨ē⟩ of the Old Saxon and Old High German forms.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in the Vespasian Psalter gloss of the mid-ninth century: ofer snaw ic biom gehwitad “I shall be made whiter than snow” renders “super nivem dealbabor” (Psalm 50).^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

The word means snow and, in the plural, falls of snow; the Old English Boethius names micle renas & snawas “heavy rains and snows” among the storms of winter.^[9][8] It is common in the comparison swā hwīt swā snāw “as white as snow”, used of the angel's raiment in the Gospels and in Ælfric.^[9][8] The Old English Bede says that in Ireland snow seldom lies longer than three days.^[9]

The word lived on as Middle English snow, now English snow; the northern form survives as Scots snaw.^[10][6][1]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – ofer snaw ic biom gehwitad in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[7][8]
• s. x med. – micle renas & snawas “heavy rains and snows” in the Old English Boethius.^[11][8]
• s. x² – Snaw eorðan band “snow bound the earth” in the Andreas (Vercelli Book).^[12][8]
• s. x ex. – his reaf swa hwit swa snaw “his raiment as white as snow” in Ælfric's Catholic Homilies I.^[13][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. snow.^[9][5]
2. a fall of snow, a snowstorm.^[9]

Word family

• snāwhwīt
• snāwiġ
• snāwceald
• snāwgebland

Descendants

• Middle English snow (→ English snow; English snaw; Scots snaw)^[1]

Related words

• snīwan

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 171
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 460
4. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 304
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. snāw
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 329
8. ^ a b c d e f g Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
9. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 891
10. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
11. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 296
12. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 704
13. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 407