graupel

Etymology

Borrowed from German Graupel(wetter), literally “graupel (weather)”. Graupel is itself a back-formation from graupeln (“to hail (with soft hailstones)”) plus -el (a diminutive suffix); and graupeln in turn comes from Graupe (“hulled grain, pearl barley”), ultimately from Proto-Slavic *krūpà (“grainy substance; groats; hail”) and Proto-Indo-European *krewp-, plus -eln (a suffix forming verbs, often with a diminutive or frequentative sense).