Snow

Picture Snow is another one of those words that come to us almost unchanged over thousands of years. Snow has always been snow.
 
Here’s the genealogy: The word snow has its origins in the Proto-Indo-European root sniegh (snow, to snow) and later Proto-Germanic snaiwaz.  
 
From these sources come several words in different Germanic languages: Old Saxon and Old High German snea, Old Frisian sne, Middle Dutch snee, Dutch sneeuw, German Schnee, Old Norse snjor, Gothic snaiws.
 
And, at last, to Old English as snaw (snow, that which falls as snow, a fall of snow, a snowstorm) which later evolved to the word snow.
 
Some of snow’s cousins include Old Irish snechta, Irish sneachd, Welsh nyf, Lithuanian sniegas, Old Prussian snaygis, Old Church Slavonic snegu, Russian snieg, Slovak sneh. A distant cousin is Sanskrit snihyati (he gets wet).
 
All this prompted by looking out the window this morning. Hey, I live in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. It doesn’t snow that often here.
 
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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Published on February 13, 2021 12:31
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