Where does “sneaker” come from?

Sneaker comes from English sneak with the agent suffix -er, ultimately tracing through Old French -er, Latin -āre (infinitive marker), Latin -ārius (agentive suffix meaning "one who"), and Proto-Italic -os.

sneaker (English): One who sneaks; An athletic shoe with a soft,...

Definitions

  1. One who sneaks; An athletic shoe with a soft,...

Ancestry of “sneaker”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsneakOne who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to...
2Middle Englishsnikento creep, crawl
3Old Englishsnīcanto creep, crawl; to creep; crawl
4Proto-West Germanicsnīkanto crawl; to creep
5Proto-Germanicsnīkanąto crawl; to creep
6Proto-Indo-Europeansneyg-to crawl

Words derived from “sneaker

Every word from Proto-Indo-European sneyg-Every word from Proto-Germanic snīkanąEvery word from Proto-West Germanic snīkan