Added 8 October 2026

snow

/snəʊ̯/ noun

In Latin: nix Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about snow at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Preceded by the dummy subject it: to have snow (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1) fall from the atmosphere.
It is snowing. It started to snow.
Of a thing: to fall like snow.
To cause (something) to fall like snow. To cover or scatter (a place or thing) with, or as if with, snow. To cause (hair) to turn white; also, to cause (someone) to have white hair. To convince or hoodwink (someone), especially by presenting confusing information or through flattery. To bluff (an opponent) in draw poker by playing a hand which has no value, or by refusing to draw any cards. To cause (someone) to be under the effect of a drug; to dope, to drug.

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”). The verb is derived from Middle English snouen (“to snow; (figurative) to shower”), from snou, snow (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). Displaced Old English snīwan, whence English snew (obsolete). 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.