Where does “sneeuwleeuw” come from?

sneeuwleeuw (Dutch) comes from Dutch sneeuw, from Middle Dutch snêe, from Old Dutch snēo, from Proto-West Germanic snaiw, from Proto-Germanic snaiwaz, from Proto-Indo-European snóygʷʰos, from Proto-Indo-European sneygʷʰ- — to snow.

sneeuwleeuw (Dutch): snow lion

Definitions

  1. snow lion

Ancestry of “sneeuwleeuw”, step by step

sneeuwleeuw traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Dutch sneeuw

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Dutchsneeuwsnow; snow, static, noise; cocaine
2Middle Dutchsnêesnow
3Old Dutchsnēosnow
4Proto-West Germanicsnaiwsnow
5Proto-Germanicsnaiwazsnow
6Proto-Indo-Europeansnóygʷʰossnow
7Proto-Indo-Europeansneygʷʰ-to snow

via Dutch Leeuw

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1DutchLeeuwLeo
2Middle Dutchleeuwe
3Old Dutchlewolion
4Proto-Germanic*lēwōscythe
5Proto-Germaniclewôscythe
6Proto-Germanic-ly; Forms agent nouns, often from the zero-grade...
7Proto-Indo-EuropeanDerives nouns from roots
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sneygʷʰ-Every word from Proto-Indo-European snóygʷʰosEvery word from Proto-Germanic snaiwaz