Where does “snowdrift” come from?
Snowdrift derives from English snow and drift, with snow tracing to Middle English snaw, Old English snāw, and Proto-Indo-European sneygʰ-.
snowdrift (English): A bank of snow accumulated by the wind
Definitions
- A bank of snow accumulated by the wind
Ancestry of “snowdrift”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | snow | The frozen, crystalline state of water that falls... |
| 2 | Middle English | snow | snow; snow-white; The temperature where snow... |
| 3 | Old English | snāw | snow |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | snaiw | snow |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | snaiwaz | snow |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | snóygʷʰos | snow |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | sneygʷʰ- | to snow |
Words derived from “snowdrift”