Etymologically
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sniff

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sniffen,[2][3][4] usually explained as imitative of the sound.[5][6][7][8][2] The OED compares sniffle and snuff,[5] and Weekley snivel;[9] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster think it possibly related to snivelen (“to snivel”),[3][10] and the MED and Dictionary.com consider it perhaps a back-formation from that verb.[4][11] The American Heritage Dictionary and the MED take it as probably of Scandinavian origin;[12][4] the MED compares Old Danish snive and dialectal Swedish snifsa.[4] Ayto links it with a base Proto-Germanic *snuf- imitating a noisy intake of breath through the nose, which produced snuff and snivel.[13] Skeat derived it from a lost Old Norse verb,[14] and Johnson from Swedish.[15]

Earliest recorded meaning

To draw air through the nose in short audible breaths, to sniffle: about 1340 in the OED,[5] about 1350 in Barnhart and the MED, in the Nominale, where a man with a cold "snyffyth and snyuelith".[3][4]

Semantic evolution

For four centuries the verb meant only breathing in noisily through the nose.[5][3] Showing contempt by sniffing is recorded from 1729, in Swift,[5][3][2] and Barnhart suggests that the smelling sense, recorded only from 1788, in Cowper, must be older.[3] The transitive sense, to draw in air or a smell through the nose, is from 1796,[5][2] and the figurative sense of smelling out or suspecting something from 1864.[5] Use of drugs began in the early 20th century: Green's Dictionary of Slang has people sniffing cocaine in 1907,[16] the OED records the verb for inhaling cocaine or glue fumes from 1925.[5][2] The noun, from the verb, is from 1767;[5][3][2] its scornful sense is from 1837 in the OED and 1859 in Etymonline,[5][2] and a sniff was also a smell (1844) and a hint (1936).[5][2] In Australian slang a sniff was perfume (1905).[16] In dialect, sniff after meant to court in Nottinghamshire, and in Lancashire sniff meant to whimper.[17]

Timeline

  • c. 1340 – to draw air audibly through the nose.[5]
  • 1729 – to show contempt by sniffing, in Swift.[5][3]
  • 1767 – noun, an act of sniffing.[5][3]
  • 1788 – to smell something with sniffs, in Cowper.[5][3]
  • 1796 – transitive, to draw in air or a smell through the nose.[5][2]
  • 1837 – noun, a sniff of contempt.[5]
  • 1844 – noun, a smell or scent.[5][2]
  • 1864 – figurative, to detect or suspect, also sniff out.[5]
  • 1907 – to inhale a drug.[16]
  • 1936 – noun, a hint.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To breathe in quickly and audibly through the nose, as to clear it, to smell something or because one is crying: The child sniffed and wiped her eyes.[18][10][5]
  2. To smell something by sniffing: The dog sniffed the doorway.[18][5]
  3. To show contempt or disdain; also sniff at, to dismiss as not good enough: The offer is not to be sniffed at.[18][5]
  4. To breathe in a drug or the fumes of glue or the like through the nose.[18][5][16]
  5. To detect or find as if by smell; often sniff out.[18][5]

Noun

  1. An act or sound of sniffing.[10][5]
  2. An amount breathed in by sniffing; a smell or whiff.[10][5]
  3. A slight sign or chance; a hint.[5]
  4. A sniff showing contempt or disbelief.[5][2]

Word family

  • sniffable
  • sniffer
  • sniffingly
  • sniffish
  • sniffle
  • sniffy
  • snuff
  • snivel

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e 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)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  10. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  13. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  14. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  16. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  17. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  18. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins