Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗In advance; before release to the general public. · In a stealthy or surreptitious manner.
One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information. · The act of sneaking · A cheat; a con artist. · An informer; a tell-tale.
To creep or go stealthily; to come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen. · To take (something) in a surreptitious manner, so as to avoid being noticed. · To stealthily bring someone something. · To hide, especially in a mean or cowardly manner.
Possibly from Middle English sniken (“to creep, crawl”), from Old English snīcan (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-West Germanic *snīkan, from Proto-Germanic *snīkaną (“to creep, crawl”), of sound-symbolic origin; compare formally unrelated snake, snoop, snook, snoke, and snoot. Cognate with Danish snige (“to sneak”), Swedish snika (“to sneak, hanker after”), Icelandic sníkja (“to sneak, hanker after”). Possibly related to snitch.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionsnikenenm · to creep, crawl
- Inherited-form mentionsnīcanang · to creep, crawl
- Inherited-form mention*snīkangmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*snīkanągem-pro · to creep, crawl
- Cognate mentionsnigeda · to sneak
- Cognate mentionsnikasv · to sneak, hanker after
- Cognate mentionsníkjais · to sneak, hanker after
- Doublet mentionsnitchen
This page abbreviates 6 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
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