Etymologically
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snowy

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:26. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈsnəʊi/[1]
  • US: /ˈsnoʊi/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English snouī, also snawi,[2][3] inherited from Old English snāwig,[2][4][5][6] formed from Old English snāw + -ig.[4] The noun snāw is from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz.[3] Similar adjectives are Old Saxon snêgig, Middle Dutch sneeich, Dutch sneeuwig, Old High German snewac, German schneeig, Old Norse snæugr and Swedish snöig.[7][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of weather or a season, marked by falling snow: an Old English prognostic text says that if the first of January falls on a Saturday, there will be a snawig winter.[5][7]

Semantic evolution

In early Middle English the word was used of things made of snow or melted snow: Sawles Warde speaks of the chattering of teeth in the snawi waters (about 1225 in the MED's dating, before 1240 in the OED's).[2][7] The sense "covered with snow" is recorded from 1548, and the comparison with the colour of snow, "snow-white", from 1590, in Spenser's Faerie Queene.[7] Johnson (1755) gave "White like snow" as the first sense and "Abounding with snow" as the second.[8] From 1822 the word appeared in the names of flowers, and as a noun it was slang for linen from 1877 and short for the snowy owl from 1904.[7][9] In 1959 it was applied to a television picture spoiled by "snow".[7] In Shetland and Caithness the word took the forms snawie and snaaie, with compounds such as snowy-ba, a snowball, and snowy-fowl, the snow bunting.[10]

Timeline

  • Old English – of weather, with much snow.[7][5]
  • c. 1225 – made of snow or melted snow, in Sawles Warde.[2][7]
  • 1548 – covered with snow.[7]
  • 1590 – snow-white, in Spenser.[7]
  • 1822 – in names of flowers.[7]
  • 1877 – noun, slang, linen.[7][9]
  • 1904 – noun, the snowy owl.[7]
  • 1959 – of a television picture, affected by interference.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Marked by much falling snow: a snowy week in February.[11][4][7]
  2. Covered with snow: snowy rooftops.[11][4][7]
  3. As white or pure as snow: a snowy tablecloth.[11][4][7]
  4. Made of snow or melted snow.[4][7]
  5. Of a television picture, speckled by interference.[7]

Noun

  1. A snowy owl.[7]
  2. (slang) Linen, especially washing hung out to dry.[9][7]

Word family

  • snowily
  • snowiness

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d 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)
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  10. ^ 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)
  11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins