sny

English edit

WOTD – 18 November 2011

Pronunciation edit

(Received Pronunciation, US) enPR: snī, IPA^(key): /snaɪ/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- Rhymes: -aɪ
(UK) enPR: snī, IPA^(key): /snʌɪ/

Etymology 1 edit

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 edit

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

(obsolete, rare, intransitive) move, proceed

References edit

“† 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. Obs.^— 1 In 5 snyȝe. [Of obscure origin.] intr. To move, proceed. [¶] a 1400–50 Alexander 4095 Þan snyȝes þar, out of þat snyth hill.., A burly best.
“†sny, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]

Etymology 2 edit

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 edit

(pronounced with a terminal consonant) snithe, snive
(pronounced [snaɪ]) snie, sny, snye
(pronounced [sniː]) snee

Verb edit

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

(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 edit

to swarm, teem, be infested w\smth.

Russian: кише́ть (ru) (kišétʹ)

References edit

“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 (snəi), v. Now dial. Forms: 7 snithe, 9 snive; 7, 9 snie, 8–9 sny, 9 snye; 7, 9 snee. [Of obscure origin.] intr. To abound, swarm, teem, be infested, with something. [¶] 1674 Ray N.C. Words 44 To Snee or snie, to abound or swarm. He snies with Lice, he swarms with them. 1675 V. Alsop Anti-sozzo 503 Certainly never did man so snithe with prejudices against Truth. c 1746 J. Collier (Tim Bobbin) View Lanc. Dial. Gloss., Snye, to swarm. 1849 Howitt Year Bk. Country 242/32 The villages in the forest sny with children. 1882 Echo 16 Jan. 4/1 The place literally ‘snives’ with rabbits. 1897 J. Prior Ripple & Flood xix, The watter snies wi’ fish.
“sny, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]

Etymology 3 edit

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 edit

sny (plural snies)

(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 edit

“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 (snəi), sb. Shipbuilding. [Cf. Snying vbl. sb.] (See quots. 1846 and 1875.) [¶] a. 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 54 In working up a round Buttock of a Ship, the lower Edge of the Planks will have a sudden Sny aft. 1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. 288 In shipbuilding, a plank is said to have sny, when its edge has an upward curve. [¶] b. c 1850 Rudim. Nav. (Weale) 149 The great sny occasioned in full bows..is..to be prevented by introducing steelers. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2232/1 Sny,..the trend of the lines of a ship upward from amidship toward the bow and the stern.
“sny, n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]

Etymology 4 edit

First attested with this spelling in 1893; see snye.

Noun edit

sny (plural snies)

(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.