Where does “snake” come from?
snake (Middle English) comes from Old English snaca, from Proto-Germanic snakô, from Proto-Germanic snakaną, from Proto-Indo-European sneg- — to crawl, creeping thing.
snake (Middle English): snake; serpent
Ancestry of “snake”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old English | snaca | snake |
| 2 | Proto-Germanic | snakô | snake |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | snakaną | to crawl |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | sneg- | to crawl, creeping thing |
Words derived from “snake”