snore

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*pnew-“to breathe; snort; sneeze”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*fnuzô
3. Old English · derived fromfnora“snort; sneezing”
4. Middle English · derived fromsnore
5. Middle English · inherited fromsnoren
6. English todaysnore

From Middle English snoren, fnoren (“to snore loudly; snort”), from Middle English snore, *fnore (“snore; snort”, noun), from Old English fnora (“snort; sneezing”), from Proto-Germanic *fnuzô, from Proto-Indo-European *pnew- (“to breathe; snort; sneeze”). Compare also Proto-West Germanic *snarkōn, Middle Low German snorren (“to drone”), Dutch snorren (“to hum, purr”). The change fn → sn in this word is regular, seen also in sneeze, from Middle English fnesen (see sneeze for more).

Words from the same roots