Etymology

smother

smoth·er
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Today it means: To suffocate; stifle; obstruct, more or less completely, the respiration of something or someone. Full definition →

Middle English smothren ← Old English smorian ← Proto-West Germanic *smorōn
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smother · verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*smurōną“to suffocate, strangle”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*smorōn
  3. Old English · derived fromsmorian“to smother, suffocate, choke”
  4. Middle English · derived fromsmoren“to smother”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromsmothren
  6. English todaysmother

From Middle English smothren, smortheren, alteration (due to smother, smorther (“a suffocating vapour, dense smoke”, noun)) of Middle English smoren (“to smother”), from Old English smorian (“to smother, suffocate, choke”), from Proto-West Germanic *smorōn, from Proto-Germanic *smurōną (“to suffocate, strangle”), probably related to *smallijan (“to burn”) or Old English smoca (“smoke”). Cognate with Middle Low German smoren, smurten (“to choke, suffocate”), West Flemish smoren (“to smoke, reek”), Dutch smoren (“to suffocate, smother", also "to stew, simmer”), German schmoren (“to stew, simmer, braise”).

smother · noun2

  1. Old English · inherited fromsmorþor“smoke”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromsmother
  3. English todaysmother

From Middle English smother, smorther (“a suffocating vapour, dense smoke”), from Old English smorþor (“smoke”, literally “that which suffocates”), from smorian (“to suffocate, choke”) + -þor (instrumental suffix).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.