sny

See also: SNY

English

WOTD – 18 November 2011

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) enPR: snī, IPA^(key): /snaɪ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  • Rhymes: -aɪ
• (UK) enPR: snī, IPA^(key): /snʌɪ/

Etymology 1

From a derivative of Proto-Germanic *snīkaną (“to crawl, creep”), similar to modern sneak. First attested in late Middle English; from Middle English snyȝe (“creep”); compare Danish snige (“sneak”).

Verb

sny (third-person singular simple present snies, present participle snying, simple past and past participle snied)

1. (obsolete, rare, intransitive) move, proceed

References

• “† Sny, v.” listed on page 343 of volume IX, part I (Si–St) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [1st ed., 1919]
• “†sny, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]

Etymology 2

First attested in 1674; its etymology is unknown. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Alternative forms

• snithe, snive
• snie, sny, snye
• snee

Verb

sny (third-person singular simple present snies, present participle snying, simple past and past participle snied)

1. (now dialectal, intransitive) Abound, swarm, teem, be infested, with something
   • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “chapter 4”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

     “And did you kill it?”
     “I did, for they’re a nuisance. The place is fair snied wi’ ‛em.”

Translations

to swarm, teem, be infested with something

• Russian: кише́ть (ru) (kišétʹ)

References

• “Sny, v.” listed on page 343 of volume IX, part I (Si–St) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [1st ed., 1919]
• “sny, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]

Etymology 3

First attested in 1711; its etymology is unknown; perhaps from Proto-Germanic *snōwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *sneh₁- (“to wind; twist; braid; plait”). Compare snying and the Danish sno (“to twine”, “to twist”).

Noun

sny (plural snies)

1. (shipbuilding) Upward curving observed in the planks of a wooden ship or boat.
   1. [1711 onward] An upward curve at the edge of a plank.
   2. [circa 1850 onward] An upward curve in the lines of a wooden watercraft from amidships toward its bow and its stern.

References

• “Sny, sb.” listed on page 343 of volume IX, part I (Si–St) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [1st ed., 1919]
• “sny, n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]

Etymology 4

First attested with this spelling in 1893; see snye.

Noun

sny (plural snies)

1. (archaic) A small channel of water.
   • 1893, Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer Abroad, Tom Sawyer, Detective and Other Stories (1896), page unknown

     “Well, Mars Tom, my idea is like dis. It ain’t no use, we can’t kill dem po’ strangers dat ain’t doin’ us no harm, till we’ve had practice — I knows it perfectly well, Mars Tom — ‛deed I knows it perfectly well. But ef we takes a’ ax or two, jist you en me en Huck, en slips acrost de river to-night arter de moon’s gone down, en kills dat sick fam’ly dat’s over on the Sny, en burns dey house down, en —”

   • 1948, Lawrence Johnstone Burpee, editor, Canadian Geographical Journal, volume 36, Royal Canadian Geographical Society, page 151:

     The word snye, sny or snie has been used for many years to describe a channel behind an island, with slack current or partly dried, or some such similar feature.

References

• “snye” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]

Anagrams

• NYS, syn, syn-

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsnɪ]

Noun

sny

1. nominative/accusative/vocative/instrumental plural of sen

Anagrams

• syn

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsnɘ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɘ
• Syllabification: sny

Noun

sny

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of sen