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sneeze

Etymology and origin of the English word sneeze

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sniːz/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English snesen, an alteration of fnesen,[2][3][4][5][6] inherited from Old English fnēosan (“to snort, sneeze”),[2][3][4][5][6] from Proto-Germanic *fneusaną,[3][4] of imitative origin.[4] It is related to Dutch fniezen (“to sneeze”) and Old Norse fnýsa (“to snort”).[3][4][6] The change from fn- to sn- may come from the weakening of initial f and the influence of words like snort and snore,[2][3] or from a misreading of the rare spelling fn-;[4][6] the OED suggests sneeze is a strengthened form of reduced nese.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

To expel air suddenly through the nose and mouth by an involuntary spasm (before 1333 in Barnhart; 1493 in the OED).[3][7]

Semantic evolution

The noun first meant snuff, a powder for making one sneeze (1632),[7][3] and from 1646 an act of sneezing.[7][3][5] The phrase to sneeze at, “to regard as of little value”, chiefly in the negative not to be sneezed at, dates from 1806.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – Old English fnēosan.[3]
  • before 1333 – snesen (Barnhart).[3]
  • 1493 – to sneeze (OED).[7]
  • 1632 – noun, snuff.[7][3]
  • 1646 – an act of sneezing.[7][3][5]
  • 1806 – sneeze at, to make light of.[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To expel air forcibly and audibly from the nose and mouth in an involuntary spasm, chiefly because of irritation of the mucous membrane of the nose.
  2. (sneeze at) To treat as unimportant, as in nothing to sneeze at.

Noun

  1. An act or the sound of sneezing.

Word family

  • sneezer
  • sneezy
  • snort
  • snore
  • sneer
  • pneumonia

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Sneeze.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/sneeze. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·