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Origin and history of snack

snack(v.)

c. 1300, snak, "to bite or snap" (of a dog), perhaps from a Northern variant of snatch (v.) influenced by Scandinavian words (such as Old Norse snakka); or perhaps also from or influenced by continental Germanic words such as Middle Dutch snakken, Flemish snacken "to snatch, snap; chatter," which Watkins traces to a hypothetical Germanic imitative root forming words having to do with the nose (see snout).

The meaning "have a mere bite or morsel, eat a light meal" is attested by 1807, from the sense development in the noun. Related: Snacked; snacking.

also from c. 1300

snack(n.)

c. 1400, snak, "a snatch or snap" (especially that of a dog), from snack (v.). Later "a snappish remark" (1550s); "a share, portion, part" (1680s; hence old expressions such as go snacks "share, divide; have a share in").

The meaning "a hasty or small meal" is attested from 1726. Snack bar "counter from which snacks are served" is attested from 1923. The unetymological commercial plural snax is attested from 1942 in the vending machine trade.

also from c. 1400

Entries linking to snack

snatch(v.)

early 13c., snacchen, of a dog, "make a sudden snap or bite" (at something), a word of uncertain origin; perhaps from an unrecorded Old English *snæccan or Middle Dutch snacken "to snatch, chatter." Compare snack (n.). The meaning "lay hold of suddenly, seize or take eagerly" is from early 14c.; especially "take from someone's hands" (1580s). Related: Snatched; snatching.

snout(n.)

early 13c., "trunk or projecting nose of an animal, the nose or jaws when protrusive," not found in Old English, from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch snute "snout," from Proto-Germanic *snut- (source also of German Schnauze, Norwegian snut, Danish snude "snout").

Throughout the Germanic languages a group of words in sn- (Modern German and Yiddish schn-) relate to the human nose or the animal snout. Probably the root is imitative. The senses can extend to the snap of a dog's snout; the snort a horse can make, and the rough or obstructed breathing of a human snore. Also compare snarl, sneeze, snooze, snuff, snoop, snot, etc. Their relation to another Germanic group having to do with "to cut; a detached part" (snip, snick, etc.) is uncertain, but the senses tend to overlap.

Of other animals and (contemptuously) of humans from c. 1300. 16c.-17c. English had snout-fair "good-looking" (1520s).

Lady Strangelove: Not as a suitor to me sir?

Mr. Swaynwit: No you are too great for me. Nor your Mopsey without, though shee be snout-faire, and has some wit shee's too little for me ...

[Brome, "The Court Beggar," 1632]

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Trends of snack

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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bite

Old English bitan "to pierce or cut with the teeth" (class I strong verb; past tense bat, past participle biten), from Proto-Germanic *beitanan (source also of Old Saxon bitan, Old Norse and Old Frisian bita "cut, pierce, penetrate," Middle Dutch biten, Dutch bijten, German beiss

collation

late 14c., "act of bringing together and comparing," from Old French collation (13c.) "collation, comparison, discussion" (also "a light supper"), from Latin collationem (nominative collatio) "a bringing together, collection, comparison," noun of action from collatus, irregular p

Oreo

As a derogatory word for "black person felt to have a 'white' mentality," 1968, African-American vernacular, from the snack...

micturition

As during the final 20 minutes of a 4-hour film after drinking a 32-ounce Mountain Dew from the snack bar and the movie ends...

concession

meaning "grant or lease of a small part of a property for some specified purpose" (1897), the sense in concession stand "snack...

picnic

'a picking or nibbling of bits,' a snatch, snack .......

slim

Jim attested from 1887 in sense of "very thin person;" from 1902 as a type of slender cigar; from 1975 as a brand of meat snack...

eat

Middle English eten, from Old English etan (class V strong verb; past tense æt, past participle eten) "consume food; devour, consume," from Proto-Germanic *etan (source also of Old Frisian ita, Old Saxon etan, Middle Dutch eten, Dutch eten, Old High German ezzan, German essen, Ol

tea

1650s, tay, also in early spellings thea, tey, tee and at first pronounced so as to rhyme with obey; the modern pronunciation predominates from mid-18c. But earlier in English as chaa (1590s), also cha, tcha, chia, cia. The two forms of the word reflect two paths of transmission:

browse

mid-15c., brousen, "feed on buds, eat leaves or twigs from" trees or bushes, from Old French broster "to sprout, bud," from brost "young shoot, twig, green food fit for cattle or deer," probably from Proto-Germanic *brust- "bud, shoot," from PIE *bhreus- "to swell, sprout" (see b

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