snipe

snipe · noun, verb¹

1. Old Norse · derived fromsnípa
2. Middle English · inherited fromsnipe
3. English todaysnipe

From Middle English snipe, snype (“a type of bird”), from Old Norse snípa, as in mýrisnípa (“moor snipe”). Akin to Norwegian snipe. * The verb originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India, where a hunter skilled enough to kill the elusive bird was dubbed a sniper. The term sniper was first attested in 1824, in the sense of sharpshooter.

snipe · noun²

Probably from snip or a cognate

snipe · noun, verb³

Either from sneap or a figurative development from Etymology 1.