Etymograph

English

snow

Snow comes from Middle English snaw, from Old English snāw, from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *snóygʷʰos ‘snow’, from *sneygʷʰ- ‘to snow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sneygʷʰ-‘to snow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*snóygʷʰosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*snaiwazreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*snaiwreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150snāw
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500snaw‘snow’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1530snow

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sneygʷʰ-‘to snow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*snóygʷʰosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*snaiwazreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*snaiwreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150snāw
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500snaw‘snow’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1530snow

Earliest quotation: 1530, The Table of Verbes: “In wynter whan it ſnoweth it is good ſyttynge…”

The story

The noun is derived from Middle English snaw, snou, snow (‘snow; accumulation of snow; snowfall; snowstorm; whiteness’), from Old English snāw (‘snow’), from Proto-West Germanic *snaiw (‘snow’), from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz (‘snow’), from Proto-Indo-European *snóygʷʰos (‘snow’), from *sneygʷʰ- (‘to snow’). Verb etymology 1, verb sense 2.3.2 (‘to convince or hoodwink (someone)’) probably refers to a person being blinded or confused by a snowstorm.

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *sneygʷʰ-

Another origin of snow

  1. Dutchc. 1500–presentsnauwuncertain
  2. Englishtodaysnow

Borrowed from Dutch snauw, snaauw, or Low German snau; further etymology uncertain, possibly from Low German snau (‘beak’), related to Middle Low German snute (‘snout’) (whence English snout), from Proto-West Germanic *snūt (‘snout’), from Proto-Germanic *snūtaz (‘snout’), possibly imitative.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Today it means

noun The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; also, the falling of such flakes; and the accumulation of them on the ground or on objects as a white layer.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sneygʷʰ- / snow

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