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snort (v.)late 14c., "to snore," probably related to snore (v.). Meaning "breathe through the nose with a harsh sound" first recorded 1520s. Sense of "express contempt" is from 1818. Meaning "to inhale cocaine" is first attested 1935. Related: Snorted; snorting. American English snorter "something fierce or furious" is from 1833.
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snort (n.)1808, "act of snorting," from snort (v.). Meaning "a drink of liquor" (especially whiskey) is from 1889.
Related entries & more ripsnorter (n.)
Related entries & more "something of exceptional strength, someone of remarkable qualities," 1840 [Davy Crockett], probably from rip (v.) + snort (v.). Compare riproaring.
snifter (n.)1844, "a drink of liquor," earlier "a sniff," from a Scottish and northern English survival of an obsolete verb snift meaning "to sniff, snivel" (mid-14c.), of imitative origin (compare sniff (v.)). Meaning "large bulbous stemmed glass for drinking brandy" is from 1937. The association of "drinking liquor" with words for "inhaling, snuffling" (such as snort (n.), snootful) is perhaps borrowed from snuff-taking and the nasal reaction to it.
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snore (n.)mid-14c., "a snort;" c. 1600, "act of snoring," of imitative origin; see snore (v.).
Related entries & more frown (v.)"contract the brows as an expression of displeasure," late 14c., from Old French frognier "to frown or scowl, snort, turn up one's nose" (preserved in Modern French refrogner), related to froigne "scowling look," probably from Gaulish *frogna "nostril" (compare Welsh ffroen "nose"), with a sense of "snort," or perhaps "haughty grimace." Figurative transitive sense "look with displeasure" is from 1570s. Related: Frowned; frowning.
Related entries & more sneer (v.)1550s, "to snort" (of horses), perhaps from North Frisian sneere "to scorn," related to Old English fnæran "to snort, gnash one's teeth," of imitative origin (compare Danish snærre "to grin like a dog," Middle Dutch, Middle High German snarren "to rattle"). Meaning "to smile contemptuously" is from 1670s; sense of "to curl the upper lip in scorn" is attested from 1775. Related: Sneered; sneering. Sneer word is in E. Digby Baltzell (1987).
Related entries & more chortle (v.)
Related entries & more coined 1871 by Lewis Carroll in "Through the Looking Glass," perhaps from chuckle and snort. Related: Chortled; chortling. As a noun, from 1903.
rhonchus (n.)
Related entries & more plural rhonchi, "dry sound heard in the bronchial tubes," 1829, from Latinized form of Greek rhenkhos, rhankos, properly "a snoring, snorting," from rhenkein "to snore, snort," which is of imitative origin. Related: Rhonchal; rhonchial.
