Where does “snapdragon” come from?

snapdragon (English) comes from English dragon, from English drag queen, from English Queen, from Middle English quene, from Old English cwene, from Old English cwēn, from Proto-West Germanic kwāni, from Proto-Germanic kwēniz — woman.

snapdragon (English): Any plant of the genus "Antirrhinum", with showy...

Definitions

  1. Any plant of the genus "Antirrhinum", with showy...

Ancestry of “snapdragon”, step by step

snapdragon traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English dragon

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishdragonA legendary serpentine or reptilian creature; An...
2Englishdrag queenA person, usually male, who dresses up in women's...
3EnglishQueenA title used before the personal name of a queen
4Middle EnglishqueneA queen; Any powerful woman noble; A female...
5Old Englishcwenea woman; inflection of cwēn: ##...
6Old Englishcwēnqueen; woman, wife, queen
7Proto-West Germanickwāniwoman, wife
8Proto-Germanickwēnizwife
9Proto-Indo-Europeangʷḗnwoman
10Proto-Indo-Europeangʷen-woman

via English snap

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsnapA quick breaking or cracking sound or the action...
2Dutchsnappento get, to understand; to catch in the act
3Middle Dutchsnappen
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gʷen-