"snow" meaning in Middle English

See snow in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /snɑu̯/ [Early-Middle-English, Northern], /snɔu̯/ Forms: snowes [plural], snaw [alternative], snowe [alternative], snawe [alternative], snowȝ [alternative], snoȝ [alternative], snogh [alternative], snou [alternative]
Etymology: From Old English snāw, from Proto-West Germanic *snaiw, from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz. Etymology templates: {{etymon|enm|:inh|ang:snāw|id=frozen water}}, {{inh|enm|ang|snāw}} Old English snāw, {{inh|enm|gmw-pro|*snaiw}} Proto-West Germanic *snaiw, {{inh|enm|gem-pro|*snaiwaz}} Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz Head templates: {{head|enm|noun|g=|g2=|g3=|head=|sort=}} snow, {{enm-noun|snowes}} snow (plural snowes)
  1. snow (frozen water as precipitation, either while falling or once landed)
    Sense id: en-snow-enm-noun-niNFhDTK Categories (other): Colors, Winter Disambiguation of Colors: 21 28 27 24 Disambiguation of Winter: 25 25 27 23
  2. snow-white (a snowy white)
    Sense id: en-snow-enm-noun-7OeY4EAU Categories (other): Atmospheric phenomena, Colors, Winter Disambiguation of Atmospheric phenomena: 23 41 19 17 Disambiguation of Colors: 21 28 27 24 Disambiguation of Winter: 25 25 27 23
  3. The temperature where snow appears.
    Sense id: en-snow-enm-noun-2HjPR5pp Categories (other): Middle English entries with incorrect language header, Colors, Weather, Winter Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 24 11 53 12 Disambiguation of Colors: 21 28 27 24 Disambiguation of Weather: 0 0 100 0 Disambiguation of Winter: 25 25 27 23
  4. A blanket of snow; a snowing.
    Sense id: en-snow-enm-noun-JdSxH~TP Categories (other): Colors, Winter Disambiguation of Colors: 21 28 27 24 Disambiguation of Winter: 25 25 27 23
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: snewen, snow whit, snowen, snowisshe, snowy

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "snewen"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "snow whit"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "snowen"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "snowisshe"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "snowy"
    }
  ],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "English",
      "lang_code": "en",
      "word": "snow"
    },
    {
      "lang": "English",
      "lang_code": "en",
      "word": "snaw"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Scots",
      "lang_code": "sco",
      "word": "snaw"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Yola",
      "lang_code": "yol",
      "word": "sneew"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Yola",
      "lang_code": "yol",
      "word": "sneow"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Yola",
      "lang_code": "yol",
      "word": "snowe"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Yola",
      "lang_code": "yol",
      "word": "snow"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "ang:snāw",
        "id": "frozen water"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "snāw"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English snāw",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*snaiw"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *snaiw",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*snaiwaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Old English snāw, from Proto-West Germanic *snaiw, from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "snowes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snaw",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snowe",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snawe",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snowȝ",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snoȝ",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snogh",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snou",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "noun",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "head": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "snow",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "snowes"
      },
      "expansion": "snow (plural snowes)",
      "name": "enm-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "21 28 27 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Colors",
          "orig": "enm:Colors",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 25 27 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Winter",
          "orig": "enm:Winter",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              65,
              69
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              58,
              62
            ]
          ],
          "english": "And his head and his hairs were white, like white wool or snow, and his eyes were like fire's flame.",
          "ref": "c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.), published c. 1410, Apocalips 1:14, folio 117, verso; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:",
          "text": "⁊ þe heed of him ⁊ his heeris weren whiyt as whiyt wolle .· ⁊ as ſnow / ⁊ þe iȝen of him as flawme of fier .·",
          "translation": "And his head and his hairs were white, like white wool or snow, and his eyes were like fire's flame.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "snow (frozen water as precipitation, either while falling or once landed)"
      ],
      "id": "en-snow-enm-noun-niNFhDTK",
      "links": [
        [
          "snow",
          "snow#Middle_English"
        ],
        [
          "frozen",
          "frozen#English"
        ],
        [
          "water",
          "water#English"
        ],
        [
          "precipitation",
          "precipitation#English"
        ],
        [
          "fall",
          "fall#English"
        ],
        [
          "landed",
          "land#Verb"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "23 41 19 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Atmospheric phenomena",
          "orig": "enm:Atmospheric phenomena",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 28 27 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Colors",
          "orig": "enm:Colors",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 25 27 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Winter",
          "orig": "enm:Winter",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "snow-white (a snowy white)"
      ],
      "id": "en-snow-enm-noun-7OeY4EAU",
      "links": [
        [
          "snow-white",
          "snow-white"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "24 11 53 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 28 27 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Colors",
          "orig": "enm:Colors",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "0 0 100 0",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Weather",
          "orig": "enm:Weather",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 25 27 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Winter",
          "orig": "enm:Winter",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The temperature where snow appears."
      ],
      "id": "en-snow-enm-noun-2HjPR5pp",
      "links": [
        [
          "temperature",
          "temperature"
        ],
        [
          "appear",
          "appear"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "21 28 27 24",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Colors",
          "orig": "enm:Colors",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "25 25 27 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Winter",
          "orig": "enm:Winter",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A blanket of snow; a snowing."
      ],
      "id": "en-snow-enm-noun-JdSxH~TP",
      "links": [
        [
          "blanket",
          "blanket"
        ],
        [
          "snowing",
          "snowing"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/snɑu̯/",
      "tags": [
        "Early-Middle-English",
        "Northern"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/snɔu̯/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "snow"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English lemmas",
    "Middle English nouns",
    "Middle English terms derived from Old English",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Middle English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sneygʷʰ-",
    "Middle English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *snóygʷʰos",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Old English",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Pages using etymon with no ID",
    "Pages with 4 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "enm:Atmospheric phenomena",
    "enm:Colors",
    "enm:Weather",
    "enm:Winter"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "snewen"
    },
    {
      "word": "snow whit"
    },
    {
      "word": "snowen"
    },
    {
      "word": "snowisshe"
    },
    {
      "word": "snowy"
    }
  ],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "English",
      "lang_code": "en",
      "word": "snow"
    },
    {
      "lang": "English",
      "lang_code": "en",
      "word": "snaw"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Scots",
      "lang_code": "sco",
      "word": "snaw"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Yola",
      "lang_code": "yol",
      "word": "sneew"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Yola",
      "lang_code": "yol",
      "word": "sneow"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Yola",
      "lang_code": "yol",
      "word": "snowe"
    },
    {
      "lang": "Yola",
      "lang_code": "yol",
      "word": "snow"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "ang:snāw",
        "id": "frozen water"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "etymon"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "snāw"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English snāw",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*snaiw"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *snaiw",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*snaiwaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Old English snāw, from Proto-West Germanic *snaiw, from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "snowes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snaw",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snowe",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snawe",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snowȝ",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snoȝ",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snogh",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "snou",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "noun",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "head": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "snow",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "snowes"
      },
      "expansion": "snow (plural snowes)",
      "name": "enm-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Middle English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              65,
              69
            ]
          ],
          "bold_translation_offsets": [
            [
              58,
              62
            ]
          ],
          "english": "And his head and his hairs were white, like white wool or snow, and his eyes were like fire's flame.",
          "ref": "c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.), published c. 1410, Apocalips 1:14, folio 117, verso; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:",
          "text": "⁊ þe heed of him ⁊ his heeris weren whiyt as whiyt wolle .· ⁊ as ſnow / ⁊ þe iȝen of him as flawme of fier .·",
          "translation": "And his head and his hairs were white, like white wool or snow, and his eyes were like fire's flame.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "snow (frozen water as precipitation, either while falling or once landed)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "snow",
          "snow#Middle_English"
        ],
        [
          "frozen",
          "frozen#English"
        ],
        [
          "water",
          "water#English"
        ],
        [
          "precipitation",
          "precipitation#English"
        ],
        [
          "fall",
          "fall#English"
        ],
        [
          "landed",
          "land#Verb"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "snow-white (a snowy white)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "snow-white",
          "snow-white"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "The temperature where snow appears."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "temperature",
          "temperature"
        ],
        [
          "appear",
          "appear"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A blanket of snow; a snowing."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "blanket",
          "blanket"
        ],
        [
          "snowing",
          "snowing"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/snɑu̯/",
      "tags": [
        "Early-Middle-English",
        "Northern"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/snɔu̯/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "snow"
}

Download raw JSONL data for snow meaning in Middle English (4.0kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Middle English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-01-01 using wiktextract (f492ef9 and 9905b1f). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.