snark

Etymology

The noun sense meaning “snide remark” arose as a back-formation from snarky (1906), which itself came from the obsolete verb snark (“to snore, snort”) (1866). That verb traces to Middle English *snarken (“to snore”), from Proto-West Germanic *snarkōn, formed from snore and -k. Compare Low German snarken, North Frisian snarke, Swedish snarka and German schnarchen, as well as English snort and snore. The word is Germanic in origin, though ultimately onomatopoeic.