Where does “snow” come from?
Snow comes from Middle English snaw, from Old English snāw, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European sneygʰ-, a root meaning to snow or flow.
snow (English): The frozen, crystalline state of water that falls...
Definitions
- The frozen, crystalline state of water that falls...
Ancestry of “snow”, step by step
snow traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English snow
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | snow | snow; snow-white; The temperature where snow... |
| 2 | Old English | snāw | snow |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | snaiw | snow |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | snaiwaz | snow |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | snóygʷʰos | snow |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | sneygʷʰ- | to snow |
via Dutch snauw
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Dutch | snauw | A snarl, sneer; a verbal snap or aggressive remark |
| 2 | Dutch | snauwen | to snap, to sneer, to snarl |
| 3 | Middle Dutch | snauwen | — |
Words derived from “snow”