"S" Word Origins

smog

Origin

A blend of "smoke" and "fog."

smogginess

Origin

From smoggy + -ness.

smoke

Old English

From Old English smoca, "smoke," related to Dutch and German words for smoke from a fire.

smoked

Origin

From smoke plus the past-participle ending -ed.

smokefall

Origin

From smoke + fall.

smoker

Origin

From smoke plus the agent-forming suffix -er.

smokescreen

Origin

From smoke plus screen.

smokey

Origin

Short for "Smokey Bear," the cartoon forest-ranger mascot, whose hat resembled those worn by highway patrol officers.

smoking

Origin

From smoke plus -ing.

smoky

Origin

From smoke plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.

smol

English

A deliberate misspelling of small, part of a wider internet style that respells words for affectionate effect.

smolder

Origin

From Middle English smolderen (“to suffocate, stifle”), from Middle English smolder (“smoke, smoky vapour”), ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *smolōn (“to burn, glow, fume, smoulder”). Related to Proto-West Germanic *smallijan (> English smell).

smooch

German

Possibly a dialect variant of "smack," related to a German word for a kiss.

smooth

Old English

From Old English smēþe, "smooth," of unknown deeper origin.

smoothie

Origin

From smooth plus the noun-forming suffix -ie.

smoothly

Old English

From Old English smoþe ("smooth") plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

smoothness

Origin

From Middle English smothenesse; equivalent to smooth + -ness. Compare Old English smēþnes (“smoothness, a smooth place, a level surface”).

smoothy

Origin

From smooth + -y.

smorgasbord

Swedish

From Swedish smörgåsbord, literally "sandwich table" — smörgås ("sandwich" or "buttered bread") plus bord ("table").

smother

Old English

From Middle English smorther, related to Old English smorian ("to suffocate, choke"), from a Proto-Germanic root also linked to "smoke."

smotheriness

Origin

From smothery + -ness.

smothering

Middle English

Inherited from Middle English smorþering.

SMS

Origin

An initialism for Short Message Service, the mobile-phone protocol used to send short text messages.

smudge

Origin

Origin uncertain; related to the older word "smutch," meaning a smear or stain.

smudginess

Origin

From smudgy + -ness.

smudgy

Origin

From smudge (“blemish; dense smoke; to obscure by smearing; to stifle”) + -y. (The sense "rainy" is related to dialectal use of smudge to mean drizzling rain.)

smug

German

From an earlier sense of "neat, spruce," borrowed from Low German smuk ("pretty, trim").

smuggle

Germanic

From Dutch smokkelen ("to smuggle"), ultimately from a Germanic root meaning "to creep" or "slip through."

smuggler

Origin

From smuggle + the agent suffix -er, meaning "one who smuggles."

smurf

French

From the Belgian comic Les Schtroumpfs, created by Peyo; the English name Smurf comes via Dutch smurf, adapted from the French schtroumpf.

smush

Origin

Possibly blend of smash + mush.

smut

Middle English

From Middle English smutten ("to defile, blacken"), related to German Schmutz ("dirt, filth").

smutch

Origin

Perhaps an alteration of smudge, smatch, or smooch.

smutty

Origin

From smut + -y. Related to German schmutzig (“filthy, dirty, smutty”).

Smythe

Origin

A variant spelling of Smith, from the trade of the blacksmith.

snack

Dutch

From Middle Dutch snacken ("to snap, to bite"), which originally meant a quick bite of food.

SNAFU

Origin

A World War II military acronym for "situation normal, all fouled up" (in its original, cruder form), used by soldiers to describe the everyday chaos of army life.

snag

Old Norse

From an earlier sense meaning a stump or sharp projecting branch, borrowed from Old Norse snagi ("clothes peg"), later extended to any sharp obstacle.

snail

Old English

From Old English snægl, from a Proto-Germanic root related to "sneak" and "creep."

snake

Old English

From Old English snaca, from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to creep" or "to slide."

snakebit

Origin

From snake + bit.

snakebite

Origin

A compound of snake and bite.

snakeskin

Origin

A compound of snake and skin.

snap

German

From Dutch or Low German snappen ("to bite, seize"), likely echoing the sharp sound of something breaking.

Snapchat

Origin

A blend of snapshot and chat.

Snape

Old English

The surname and place name likely derive from Old English roots referring to boggy or poor pastureland; the woodworking verb has a separate, less certain origin.

snapper

Origin

From snap + the agent suffix -er, originally meaning "one that snaps or bites."

snapperhead

Origin

From snapper + head, possibly a reference to the appearance of snapper's heads frequently used as bait.