Where does “snowfall” come from?
Snowfall derives from English snow and English fall, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European snóygʰos and pōl-, meaning precipitation descending from the sky.
snowfall (English): An instance of falling of snow; The amount of...
Definitions
- An instance of falling of snow; The amount of...
Ancestry of “snowfall”, step by step
snowfall traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English snow
| 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 |