Where does “Schneeballsystem” come from?

Schneeballsystem (German) comes from German Schneeball, from German Schnee, from Middle High German snê, from Old High German snēo, from Proto-West Germanic snaiw, from Proto-Germanic snaiwaz, from Proto-Indo-European snóygʷʰos, from Proto-Indo-European sneygʷʰ- — to snow.

Schneeballsystem (German): pyramid scheme

Definitions

  1. pyramid scheme

Ancestry of “Schneeballsystem”, step by step

Schneeballsystem traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German Schneeball

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanSchneeballsnowball; viburnum, any shrub of the genus...
2GermanSchneesnow; cocaine
3Middle High Germansnêsnow
4Old High Germansnēosnow
5Proto-West Germanicsnaiwsnow
6Proto-Germanicsnaiwazsnow
7Proto-Indo-Europeansnóygʷʰossnow
8Proto-Indo-Europeansneygʷʰ-to snow

via German System

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanSystemsystem; period
2Latinsystēmasystem
3Ancient Greekσύστημαa whole made of several parts or members, system;...
4Ancient Greek-μᾰ"suffix forming a noun denoting the result of an...
5Proto-Indo-European-mn̥Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sneygʷʰ- →