Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “snowshoe” come from?

Snowshoe derives from English snow and shoe, with shoe tracing to Middle English shoo, Old English hēo, and ultimately Proto-Indo-European skek-, a root related to concepts of covering or protection.

snowshoe (English): A flat item of footwear worn to facilitate...

Definitions

  1. A flat item of footwear worn to facilitate...

Ancestry of “snowshoe”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishshoeA protective covering for the foot, with a bottom...
2GermanSchuhshoe
3Middle High Germanschuo—
4Old High Germanscuohshoe
5Proto-West Germanicskōhshoe
6Proto-Germanicskōhazshoe
7Proto-Indo-Europeanskewk-—
8Proto-Indo-European(s)kew-to caw, to howl; to cover, hide; to cover, hide,...

Words derived from “snowshoe”

  • snowshoeing
  • Snowshoe
  • snowshoer
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)kew- →