snow
Frozen water vapour that falls as soft white flakes.
Etymology
From Old English snāw, from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz, from PIE *snéygʷʰ- "to snow, snow." The word is remarkably consistent across northern Indo-European languages, reflecting the climate of the PIE homeland on the Pontic-Caspian steppe, where winters were harsh.
The Journey: *snéygʷʰ- → snow
*snéygʷʰ-
*snaiwaz
snāw
snow
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *snéygʷʰ-. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Greek | níphas |
| Latin | nix (nivis) |
| Welsh | nyf |
| Gothic | snaiws |
| Russian | sneg |
| Sanskrit | snéha (stickiness) |
| Old Irish | snechta |
| Lithuanian | sniẽgas |
Did You Know?
The word "snow" is evidence for the PIE homeland: a cold-climate word shared by nearly every branch of the family, pointing to an origin in the steppe regions north of the Black Sea.
This word descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *snéygʷʰ-. See the full root page for descendant trees, sound law references, and scholarly discussion.