Etymologically
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snow

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /snəʊ/, US /snoʊ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English snou, snaw,[2][3] inherited from Old English snāw (“snow; a fall of snow, a snowstorm”),[2][4] from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz,[2][4][5] the source also of Old Saxon and Old High German snēo, Dutch sneeuw, German Schnee, Old Norse snjór and Gothic snaiws,[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *sniegwh- (“snow; to snow”),[2] the source also of Greek nípha, Latin nix (genitive nivis), Old Irish snechta, Lithuanian sniegas and Russian sneg.[2][4][3] The Sanskrit cognate snihyati came to mean “he gets wet”.[2] The verb, from the noun, replaced Old English snīwan, which would have given modern snew.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Frozen vapour falling in flakes: about 825 in the OED,[6] before 830 in Barnhart.[4]

Semantic evolution

A fall of snow, a snowstorm, is from about 888,[6] and an expanse of snow from about 1374.[6] The verb, “to fall as snow”, is from about 1300,[2] replacing snew, which lingered as a parallel form until the 17th century, and longer in Yorkshire;[2][7] the transitive “to cause to snow” is by the mid-14th century.[2] “To overwhelm, cover and imprison”, as heavy snows bury livestock, is American, from 1880, in to snow under,[2] and the snow job, persistent persuasion in a dubious cause (1943), is World War II forces slang.[2] As slang for cocaine it is attested from 1914,[2] and the white specks on a weak television picture are a later use.[8][9]

Timeline

  • c. 825 – snow.[6]
  • c. 888 – a snowfall.[6]
  • c. 1300 – verb, to snow.[2]
  • 1880 – to snow under.[2]
  • 1914 – cocaine.[2]
  • 1943 – snow job.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Frozen water vapour falling as white flakes of ice crystals.
  2. A fall of snow; a snowstorm.
  3. A layer or expanse of fallen snow.
  4. White specks on a television screen from weak reception.
  5. (slang) Cocaine or heroin.

Verb

  1. To fall as snow: it snowed all night.
  2. To cover or shut in with snow, usually with in or under.
  3. (slang) To deceive or persuade with glib talk.

Word family

  • snowless
  • snowlike
  • snow under
  • snowball
  • snowflake
  • snowy
  • nival

Usage notes

A different snow, a small sailing vessel like a brig (1676), is from Dutch snauw or Low German snau.[6][5][3]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster