Etymologically
Log in

schnell

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 17:00. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

schnell (strong nominative masculine singular schneller, comparative schneller, superlative am schnellsten)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German snel, inherited from Old High German snel, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *snel, inherited from Proto-Germanic *snellaz (“active, bold, quick”).[2][1][3] The same word is Old Norse snjallr (“able, eloquent”), Old English snell, Old Frisian snell and Old Saxon snel, and today Dutch snel, Swedish snäll (“kind, good”) and Icelandic snjallur;[2][4][3][5] Gothic has no such word.[2][4][3][5]

Its origin is unclear.[2][3][6] Pfeifer suggests a basic sense “eager, quick to seize, sharp”, compares Old Norse snafðr (“eager”), and connects it with the imitative words beginning in /sn/, such as Schnabel.[4] Wiktionary mentions a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *snedʰ- (“to cut”), but notes that it is doubted.[1] Kluge and the Duden relate it by ablaut to Schnalle and schnalzen.[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German snel is first recorded in glosses of the third quarter of the 8th century, and then in Otfrid, the Ludwigslied and Notker, meaning “quick, ready, nimble, lively, vigorous, brave”.[8][9][10] It is also part of Old High German personal names such as Snello and Snelperht.[8]

Semantic evolution

The earlier senses were much wider than today: Old High German and Middle High German snel meant “nimble, strong, brave”, a praising epithet of heroes, and the sense “fast” is recorded only from the early 11th century.[7][6] Pfeifer compares the development of bald, from “eager, bold” to “quick”, and quotes the 11th-century snellemo rosse, “with an eager, swift horse”.[4] The sense “strong” was still dominant in Middle High German but is no longer found in Luther.[6] Dutch snel now also means only “fast”, while Swedish snäll has come to mean “kind”.[7]

Italian snello and Old French isnel were borrowed from the Germanic word.[11] Swedish snälltåg “express train” is a loan translation of German Schnellzug, and Russian шнель is borrowed from the German word.[7][1] Literary German long kept the adverb schnelle, as in Goethe's Faust.[6][11] The noun Stromschnelle “rapids” dates from the end of the 18th century, and Schnelle in this sense from the 19th.[7][4]

Timeline

  • 3rd quarter of the 8th century – Old High German snel appears in glosses.[9][8]
  • 863–871 – The adverb snello is used by Otfrid.[9]
  • Early 11th century – The sense “fast” is recorded.[7]
  • 16th century – Luther no longer uses it for “strong”.[6]
  • End of the 18th century – Stromschnelle “rapids” is formed.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Fast, moving at high speed: ein schnelles Pferd.[12][1]
  2. Quick, happening in a short time: eine schnelle Antwort.[12][5]
  3. Allowing high speeds: eine schnelle Strecke.[12]
  4. (colloquial) Done or made with little effort or time: ein schnelles Essen.[12]
  5. Hasty, rash.[12]

Adverb

  1. Quickly.[1][12]
  2. (colloquial) Again, in a question about something one ought to know: Wie hieß sie noch schnell?[1]

Word family

  • Schnelligkeit
  • schnellen
  • Schnelle
  • Stromschnelle
  • Schnellzug
  • vorschnell
  • Schnalle
  • schnalzen
  • English snell

Usage notes

Mach schnell! is a colloquial “hurry up!”.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 820
  3. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
  5. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b c d e Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2014), 5th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin / Mannheim / Zürich: Dudenverlag, p. 752
  8. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 8, 559
  9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
  10. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 300
  11. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 15, 1286
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag