Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “snowing” come from?

Snowing comes from English snow plus the Middle English verbal suffix -en, derived from Old English snāw and Old English -en, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sneygʰ- meaning to snow or flow.

snowing (English): present participle of snow; A fall of snow

Definitions

  1. present participle of snow; A fall of snow

Ancestry of “snowing”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsnowThe frozen, crystalline state of water that falls...
2Middle Englishsnowsnow; snow-white; The temperature where snow...
3Old Englishsnāwsnow
4Proto-West Germanicsnaiwsnow
5Proto-Germanicsnaiwazsnow
6Proto-Indo-Europeansnóygʷʰossnow
7Proto-Indo-Europeansneygʷʰ-to snow
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sneygʷʰ- →