Where does “sneakers” come from?
Sneakers derives from English sneak, which combines English sneak with the agent suffix -er, ultimately from Latin -ārius meaning "one who does" and -āre meaning "to do."
sneakers (English): plural of sneaker
Definitions
- plural of sneaker
Ancestry of “sneakers”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | sneaker | One who sneaks; An athletic shoe with a soft,... |
| 2 | English | sneak | One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to... |
| 3 | Middle English | sniken | to creep, crawl |
| 4 | Old English | snīcan | to creep, crawl; to creep; crawl |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | snīkan | to crawl; to creep |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | snīkaną | to crawl; to creep |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | sneyg- | to crawl |