Online Etymology Dictionary

smother: c.1200, "to suffocate with smoke," from smorthre (n.) "dense, suffocating smoke" (c.1175), from stem of O.E. smorian "to suffocate, choke," possibly connected to smolder. Meaning "to kill by suffocation" is from 1548; sense of "to extinguish a fire" is from 1591. Sense of "stifle, repress" is first recorded 1579; meaning "to cover thickly (with some substance)" is from 1598.
smoulder: see smolder.
smudge: c.1430, smogen "to soil, stain, blacken," of obscure origin. The noun is first attested 1768, from the verb.
smug: 1551, "trim, neat, spruce, smart," possibly an alteration of Low Ger. smuk "trim, neat," from M.L.G. smücken "to adorn," and smiegen "to press close" (see smock). The meaning "having a self-satisfied air" is from 1701, an extension of the sense of "smooth, sleek" (1582), which was commonly used of attractive women and girls.
smuggler: 1661, from Low Ger. smuggeln or Du. smokkelen "to transport (goods) illegally," apparently a frequentative formation of a word meaning "to sneak" (from P.Gmc. *smuganan) and related to smock (q.v.).
smut (n.): 1664, "black mark, stain," from verb smutten "debase, defile" (early 15c.), cognate with M.H.G. smotzen "make dirty," from W.Gmc. *smutt- (cf. M.H.G. smuz "grease, dirt," Ger. Schmutz "dirt," Ger. schmutzen "to make dirty"). The meaning "indecent or obscene language" is first attested 1668 (implied in smutty).
smutch (v.): 1611, variant of smudge (q.v.).
snack: c.1300, "to bite or snap" (of a dog), probably from M.Du. snacken "to snatch, chatter" (see snatch). The meaning "have a mere bite or morsel, eat a light meal" is first attested 1807; the noun in this sense is from 1757. Snack bar is attested from 1930.
snaffle: "simple bridle-bit," 1533, perhaps from Du. snavel "beak, bill;" cf. Ger. Schnabel "beak, face," O.E. nebb, O.N. neff "beak, nose," from PIE base *snab- "beak" (see neb).
snafu: 1941, U.S. military slang, acronym for situation normal, all fucked up, "conveying the common soldier's laconic acceptance of the disorder of war and the ineptitude of his superiors." ["Oxford English Dictionary," which seldom fails to delight]
snag: 1577, "stump of a tree, branch," of Scand. origin, cf. O.N. snagi "clothes peg," snaga "a kind of ax." The meaning "sharp or jagged projection" is first recorded 1586; that of "obstacle, impediment" is 1829. The verb meaning "to be caught on an impediment" is attested from 1807, from the noun. Originally Amer.Eng., often of steamboats caught on branches and stumps lodged in riverbeds. The meaning "to catch, steal, pick up" is Amer.Eng. colloquial, attested from 1895. Snaggle-toothed "having crooked, projecting teeth" (1585) is from the same root.
snail: O.E. snægl, from P.Gmc. *snagilas (cf. O.S. snegil, O.N. snigill, M.H.G. snegel, dial. Ger. Schnegel, O.H.G. snecko, Ger. Schnecke "snail"), from base *snag-, *sneg- "to crawl" (see snake). The word essentially is a dim. form of O.E. snaca "snake," lit. "creeping thing." Also formerly used of slugs. Symbolic of slowness since at least c.1000; snail's pace is attested from c.1400.
snake (n.): O.E. snaca, from P.Gmc. *snakon (cf. O.N. snakr "snake," Swed. snok, Ger. Schnake "ring snake"), from PIE base *snag-, *sneg- "to crawl, creeping thing" (cf. O.Ir. snaighim "to creep," Lith. snake "snail," O.H.G. snahhan "to creep"). In Mod.Eng., gradually replacing serpent in popular use. Meaning "treacherous person" first recorded 1590 (cf. O.C.S. gadu "reptile," gadinu "foul, hateful"). Snake eyes in crap-shooting sense is from 1929. Snake oil is from 1927. Snake-bitten "unlucky" is sports slang from 1957. The game of Snakes and Ladders is attested from 1907. Snake pit is from 1883, as a supposed primitive test of truth or courage; fig. sense is from 1941. Phrase snake in the grass is from Virgil's Latet anguis in herba [Ecl. III.93] Another O.E. word for "snake" was næddre (see adder).
snake (v.): 1653, "to twist or wind (something) into the form of a snake," from snake (n.). The intrans. sense of "to move like a snake" is attested from 1848; that of "to wind or twist like a snake" (of roads, etc.) is from 1875.
snap (n.): 1495, "quick, sudden bite or cut," from Du. or Low Ger. snappen "to snap," probably related to M.L.G. or M.Du. snavel "bill, beak" (see nib). Sense of "quick movement" is first recorded 1631; that of "something easily done" is 1877. Common in compounds to indicate instantaneous action (cf. cold snap, 1829). The card game is attested from 1882. Phrase snap out of it first recorded 1928. Snap judgment is attested from 1841. Snappy "quick, energetic" is from 1831.
snap (v.): 1520s, "to make a quick bite" (of animals), from snap (n.). Meaning "to break suddenly or sharply" is first recorded c.1600; the mental sense is from 1970s. U.S. football sense first recorded 1887. Snapping turtle is attested from 1784. To snap the fingers is from 1670s. Snappish "peevish" is first recorded 1540s.
snap-shot: 1808, "a quick shot with a gun, without aim, at a fast-moving target;" photographic sense is attested from 1890.
snapdragon: 1573, from fancied resemblance of antirrhinum flowers to a dragon's mouth.
snape (v.): "to be hard upon, rebuke, snub," c.1300, from O.N. sneypa "to outrage, dishonor, disgrace."
snapper: applied to various fishes since 1697, from snap (v.); as a short form of snapping turtle it is recorded from 1872. Snappers "teeth" is attested from 1924.
snare (1): "noose for catching animals," c.1100, from O.N. snara "noose, snare," related to soenri "twisted rope," from P.Gmc. *snarkho (cf. M.Du. snare, Du. snaar, O.H.G. snare, Ger. Schnur "noose, cord"). The verb is attested from 1388.
snare (2): "string across a drum," 1688, probably from Du. snaar "string," from same source as snare (1).
snark (n.): imaginary animal, coined 1876 by Lewis Carroll in "The Hunting of the Snark."
snarky (adj.): "irritable, short-tempered," 1906, from snark (v.) "to snort" (1866), from an imitative source akin to Low Ger. snarken, N.Fris. snarke, Swed. snarka.
snarl (v.2): "growl and bare the teeth," 1530, perhaps from Du. or Low Ger. snarren "to rattle," probably of imitative origin (cf. Ger. schnarren "to rattle," schnurren "to hum, buzz"). Meaning "speak in a harsh manner" first recorded 1693.
snarl (v.1): "to tangle, to catch in a snare or noose," late 14c., from a noun snarl "a snare, a noose" (late 14c.), probably a dim. of snare (1). The noun meaning "a tangle, a knot" is first attested c.1600.
snatch (v.): early 13c., perhaps from M.Du. snacken "to snatch, chatter." The noun is attested from c.1300; vulgar slang sense of "vulva" is recorded from 1903; from a much older sense of "sexual intercourse quickly performed" (1580s). Weight-lifting sense is attested from 1928.
snazzy: "stylish, flashy," 1932, U.S. colloquial, perhaps a blend of snappy and jazzy.
SNCF: French national railway, 1949, acronym for Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer.
sneak (v.): 1560 (implied in sneakish), perhaps from some dial. survival of M.E. sniken "to creep, crawl," related to O.E. snican "to desire, reach for sneakily," from P.Gmc. *sneikanan, which is related to the root of snake (q.v.). The noun meaning "a sneaking person" is first recorded 1643. Sneak-thief first recorded 1859; sneak-preview is from 1938. Sneaky Pete "cheap liquor" is from 1949.
sneaker: 1598, "one who sneaks," from sneak (v.). Meaning "rubber-soled shoe" is attested from 1895, Amer.Eng.; earlier sneak (1862), so called because the shoe was noiseless. See also plimsoll.
"The night-officer is generally accustomed to wear a species of India-rubber shoes or goloshes on her feet. These are termed 'sneaks' by the women [of Brixton Prison]." ["Female Life in Prison," 1862]
sneer (v.): 1553, "to snort" (of horses), perhaps from N.Fris. sneere "to scorn," related to O.E. fnæran "to snort, gnash one's teeth," of imitative origin (cf. Dan. snærre "to grin like a dog," M.Du., M.H.G. snarren "to rattle"). Meaning "to smile contemptuously" is from 1680; sense of "to curl the upper lip in scorn" is attested from 1775. The noun is attested from 1707.
sneeze: O.E. fneosan "to snort, sneeze," from P.Gmc. *fneusanan (cf. M.Du. fniesen, Du. fniezen "to sneeze;" O.N. fnysa "to snort;" O.N. hnjosa, Swed. nysa "to sneeze;" O.H.G. niosan, Ger. niesen "to sneeze"), from P.Gmc. base *fneu-s- "sneeze," of imitative origin, as is PIE *pneu- "to breathe" (cf. Gk. pnein "to breathe"). Other imitative words for it, perhaps in various ways related to each other, include L. sternure (cf. It. starnutare, Fr. éternuer, Sp. estornudar), Bret. strevia, Skt. ksu-, Lith. čiaudeti, Pol. kichać, Rus. čichat'. Eng. forms in sn- appear 1490s; change may be due to a misreading of fn-, or from O.N. influence. But OED suggests M.E. fnese had been reduced to simple nese by early 15c., and sneeze is a "strengthened form" of this, "assisted by its phonetic appropriateness." The noun is first recorded 1646, from the verb. To sneeze at "to regard as of little value" (usually with negative) is attested from 1806.
snick: 1962, Amer.Eng., from common pronunciation of SNCC, acronym for "Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee," black civil rights organization.
snicker: 1694, possibly of imitative origin, similar to Du. snikken "to gasp, sob." The noun is first recorded 1836, from the verb.
snickersnee: 1698, originally "fight with knives," from snick-or-snee (1613), from Du. steken "to thrust, stick" + snijden "to cut" (cf. Ger. schneiden).
snide: 1859, thieves' slang "counterfeit, sham," of unknown origin. Of persons, "cunning, sharp," from 1883. Sense of "sneering" is first attested 1933.
sniff: mid-14c., of imitative origin; possibly related to snyvelen (see snivel). As a synonym for smell (v.) it dates from 1845. In ref. to cocaine from 1925. The noun is first recorded 1767; the scornful sense is from 1859.
sniffle: 1819, frequentative form of sniff. The sniffles "runny nose, head cold" is recorded from 1825.
snifter: 1844, "a drink of liquor," earlier "a sniff," from an obsolete verb meaning "to sniff, snivel" (mid-14c.), of imitative origin. Meaning "large bulbous stemmed glass for drinking brandy" is from 1937. The association of "drinking liquor" with words for "inhaling, snuffling" (e.g. snort) is perhaps borrowed from snuff-taking and the nasal reaction to it.
snigger: 1706, variant form of snicker (q.v.).
snip: 1558, "small piece of cut-out cloth," probably from Du. or Low Ger. snippen "to snip, shred," of imitative origin. The verb is attested from 1586. Snippers "scissors" is from 1593. Snippy is 1727 with the meaning "parsimonious;" the sense of "fault-finding, sharp" is first recorded 1848. Snip-snap-snorum, the card game, is 1755, from Low Ger.
snipe (n.): long-billed marsh bird, early 14c., from O.N. -snipa in myrisnipa "moor snipe;" perhaps a common Gmc. term (cf. O.S. sneppa, M.Du. snippe, Du. snip, O.H.G. snepfa, Ger. Schnepfe "snipe"). The O.E. name was snite, which is of uncertain derivation. An opprobrious term (cf. guttersnipe) since c.1600. The verb meaning "to shoot from a hidden place" is first attested 1773 (among British soldiers in India), in allusion to hunting snipe as game; sniper first attested 1824 in the sense of "sharpshooter."
snippet: 1664, diminutive form of snip (q.v.).
snit: "state of agitation, fit of temper," 1939, Amer.Eng., of unknown origin.
snitch (n.): "informer," 1785, probably from underworld slang meaning "the nose" (1700), which apparently developed from an earlier meaning "fillip on the nose" (1676).
snitch (v.): 1803, "to inform," from snitch (n.). Meaning "to steal, pilfer" is attested from 1904, perhaps a variant of snatch (v.).
snite: "to blow the nose," c.1100, now Scot. and dial., from O.E. snytan, related to O.N. snyta, M.Du. snuten, O.H.G. snuzen, Ger. schneuzen "to blow one's nose," and to snot.
snivel: O.E. *snyflan "to run at the nose" (cf. snyflung "running of the nose"), related to snofl "nasal mucus." Meaning "to be in an (affected) tearful state" is from 1690. Snivelling "mean-spirited, weak" is recorded from 1647; Melville coined snivelization (1849).
snob: 1781, "a shoemaker, a shoemaker's apprentice," of unknown origin. It came to be used in Cambridge University slang c.1796 for "townsman, local merchant," and by 1831 it was being used for "person of the ordinary or lower classes." Meaning "person who vulgarly apes his social superiors" arose 1843, popularized 1848 by William Thackeray's "Book of Snobs." The meaning later broadened to include those who insist on their gentility, in addition to those who merely aspire to it, and by 1911 had its main modern sense of "one who despises those considered inferior in rank, attainment, or taste."