Etymograph

English

sneer

Sneer comes from Middle English sneren ‘to mock, scoff at’, from Old English fnǣran ‘to snort’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pnew- ‘to breathe, pant, gasp’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pnew-‘to breathe, pant, gasp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fnesaną‘to pant, gasp’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fnāʀijanreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fnǣran‘to snort’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sneren‘to mock, scoff at’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1817sneer

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pnew-‘to breathe, pant, gasp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fnesaną‘to pant, gasp’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fnāʀijanreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fnǣran‘to snort’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sneren‘to mock, scoff at’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1817sneer

Earliest quotation: 1817, Sonnet. Ozymandias.: “Near them, on the sand, / Half sunk, a…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pnew- ‘to breathe, pant, gasp’

artery, pneumatic, snort, apnea, snore, sneeze, dyspnea, pneuma, 13 more

Today it means

verb To raise a corner of the upper lip slightly, especially in scorn.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pnew- / sneer

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