Etymograph

English

snip

Snip may come from Dutch snip ‘to snip’.

  1. Dutchc. 1500–presentsnip1as snippen‘to snip’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1680snip1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English snip
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1680, Roger L'Estrange, The Free-Born Subject: “His Third Query is a Frank Proposal, without any…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Dutchc. 1500–presentsnipWiktionary, English snipas snippen‘to snip’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1680snipWiktionary, English snip. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1680, Roger L'Estrange, The Free-Born Subject: “His Third Query is a Frank Proposal, without any…”

Every English word from Dutch snip

Today it means

verb To cut with short sharp actions, as with scissors.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “snip”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Dutch snip / snip

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