An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Schnee

by Friedrich Kluge

Schnee, m., ‘snow,’ from the equiv. MidHG. sné, OHG. snêo, m.; a common Teut. term which may be traced back to OAryan; this is all the more remarkable, since no words common to the Aryan group can be adduced for ‘hail’ and ‘rain.’ Goth. snaiws, OIc. snœ́r, AS. snâw, E. snow, Du. sneeuw. The common Teut. snaiwa-z, m., ‘snow,’ from an earlier snoigó-s (prior to the OHG. permutation snoighwós) corresponds to OSlov. sněgu, Lith. snégas, ‘snow’; allied to the Teut. root snī̆w, from pre-Teut. snī̆gh, preserved in ModHG. schneien MidHG. snîen, OHG. snîwan. To this corresponds Lat. ninguere, ‘to snow,’ and nix (nivis), ‘snow,’ Gr. νέφει, ‘it snows’ (φ equiv. to ghw), acc. γίφα, ‘snow’ (all these have lost an initial s before n); Lith. snìgti, ‘to snow,’ OIr. snechta, ‘snow,’ Zend snìż, ‘to snow.’ The Sans. root snih, ‘to become damp, melt away,’ is divergent in meaning; it must also be noted that the term for ‘snow’ differs in most of the Aryan dials. (Zend vafra, ‘snow’). Thus we have a West Aryan and Pers. (but not an Ind. and Armen.) verbal root snī̆gh, ‘to now’; the term ‘snow’ is of more recent origin. See Winter.