Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “snowy” come from?

snowy (Middle English) comes from Old English snāwiġ, from Old English snāw, from Proto-West Germanic snaiw, from Proto-Germanic snaiwaz, from Proto-Indo-European snóygʷʰos, from Proto-Indo-European sneygʷʰ- — to snow.

snowy (Middle English): snowy

Definitions

  1. snowy

Ancestry of “snowy”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishsnāwiġ—
2Old Englishsnāwsnow
3Proto-West Germanicsnaiwsnow
4Proto-Germanicsnaiwazsnow
5Proto-Indo-Europeansnóygʷʰossnow
6Proto-Indo-Europeansneygʷʰ-to snow

Words derived from “snowy”

  • snowy
  • snowily
  • snowiness
  • unsnowy
Every word from Proto-Indo-European sneygʷʰ- →