snob English · revision 346

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /snɒb/, /snɑb/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Of unknown origin.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A shoemaker or cobbler, or a cobbler's apprentice, in regional and informal use.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Around 1796 it was Cambridge University slang for a townsman as opposed to a member of the university,^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and by 1831 it meant a person of the ordinary or lower classes.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) From 1838 it also meant someone lacking breeding or taste,^(AHD)^(OED 1989) and from 1848, popularized by Thackeray's ''Book of Snobs'', someone who vulgarly imitates or seeks the company of social superiors.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995) By 1911 the sense had reversed to someone who looks down on those considered inferior in rank, attainment or taste.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1781 – a cobbler.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * c. 1796 – Cambridge slang, a townsman.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1831 – a member of the lower classes.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1833 – ''snobbery''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1838 – a person without breeding or taste.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1840 – ''snobbish''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1843 – one who apes social superiors;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) popularized by Thackeray in 1848.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1909 – ''inverted snob''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1911 – one who despises those considered inferior.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who admires and seeks to associate with those regarded as social superiors, while snubbing those regarded as inferior.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person with an offensive air of superiority in matters of taste or knowledge.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # ''(British)'' A cobbler.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[snobby]]

+ * [[snobbery]]

+ * [[snobbism]]

+ * [[snobbish]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}