snout English · revision 952

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /snaʊt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|snute]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) probably from an unrecorded Old English word^(AHD)^(Etymonline) or borrowed from Middle Low German or [[dum|snūte|t=snout]];^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) it is related to [[nl|snuit]] and [[de|Schnauze]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) Barnhart connects it with Old English ''gesnot'' “mucus”, the source of [[snot]].^(Barnhart 1995) It belongs to a group of Germanic ''sn-'' words, probably imitative, relating to the nose, such as ''snore'', ''sneeze'' and ''snuff''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The trunk of an elephant (c. 1220);^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) by about 1225 also a person's nose, used derisively.^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By about 1300 the word meant the projecting nose and jaws of an animal such as a pig or dog,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) and it was used contemptuously of a large human nose or face.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) It was extended to things shaped like a snout: a ship's prow (1387), a nozzle (before 1425), a projecting point of land (1536) and the end of a glacier (1841).^(OED 1989) In British slang ''snout'' means tobacco (1885) or a cigarette (1950),^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary) and in Australian slang ''to have a snout on someone'' is to bear them ill will (1941).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1220 – an elephant's trunk.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1225 – a person's nose (derisive).^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * c. 1300 – the nose and jaws of an animal.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1387 – a ship's prow.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1841 – the front of a glacier.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1885 – slang, tobacco.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The projecting nose and jaws of an animal's head, as of a pig; a [[muzzle]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A similar forward extension of the head in certain insects, such as [[weevil|alt=weevils]]; a [[rostrum]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Something shaped like a snout, such as a [[nozzle]], a ship's prow or the end of a [[glacier]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(informal)'' A person's nose, especially a large one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(British slang)'' Tobacco; a cigarette.^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[snouted]]

+ * [[snouty]]

+ * [[snout beetle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[snot]]

+ * [[snore]]

+ * [[sniff]]

+ * [[snoop]]

+ * [[muzzle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}