sneeze

B1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /sniːz/ See IPA manual

Freq #12152

Meanings

1

verb
To suddenly push air out through your nose and mouth because something irritates your nose.

The dust made me sneeze several times.
2

noun
A sudden, uncontrolled burst of air from the nose and mouth.

He let out a loud sneeze in the quiet library.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · a sudden, uncontrolled... sneezing

Word family

Forms sneezedsneezessneezing

Appears in

Proverbs (1)

See all

Coughs and sneezes spread diseases

Simplified etymology

Sneeze developed from medieval English fnese. The unusual initial fn- was apparently changed to sn- after the letter f was confused with the long medieval form of s, which had a similar shape.

Etymology

From Middle English snesen (“to sneeze”), alteration of earlier fnesen (“to sneeze”), from Old English fnēosan (“to sneeze, snort”), from Proto-West Germanic *fneusan, from Proto-Germanic *fneusaną, from Proto-Indo-European *pnew- (“to breathe, pant, snort, sneeze”). Cognate with dialectal Dutch fniezen (“to sneeze”), Old Norse fnýsa (“to snort”). Compare neeze, from Middle English nesen, from Old English *hnēosan (“to sneeze”), cognate with Old High German niosan (“to sneeze”), Old Norse hnjósa (“to sneeze”). See neeze. It has been suggested that the change could be due to a misinterpretation…

*pnew- Proto-Indo-European snesen Middle English fnēosan Old English *fneusan Proto-West Germanic *fneusaną Proto-Germanic

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Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# sneeze

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /sniːz/
**Frequency rank:** 12152

## Meanings
1. To suddenly push air out through your nose and mouth because something irritates your nose.
2. A sudden, uncontrolled burst of air from the nose and mouth.

## Examples
- The dust made me sneeze several times.
- He let out a loud sneeze in the quiet library.

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *pnew-
- Root: snesen
- Root: fnēosan
- Root: *fneusan
- Root: *fneusaną

## Etymology
From Middle English snesen (“to sneeze”), alteration of earlier fnesen (“to sneeze”), from Old English fnēosan (“to sneeze, snort”), from Proto-West Germanic *fneusan, from Proto-Germanic *fneusaną, from Proto-Indo-European *pnew- (“to breathe, pant, snort, sneeze”). Cognate with dialectal Dutch fniezen (“to sneeze”), Old Norse fnýsa (“to snort”). Compare neeze, from Middle English nesen, from Old English *hnēosan (“to sneeze”), cognate with Old High German niosan (“to sneeze”), Old Norse hnjósa (“to sneeze”). See neeze. It has been suggested that the change could be due to a misinterpretation…

## AI Etymology
Sneeze is from Middle English snesen (“to sneeze”), alteration of earlier fnesen (“to sneeze”), from Old English fnēosan (“to sneeze, snort”), from Proto-West Germanic *fneusan, from Proto-Germanic *fneusaną, from Proto-Indo-European *pnew- (“to breathe, pant, snort, sneeze”). Cognate with dialectal Dutch fniezen (“to sneeze”), Old Norse fnýsa (“to snort”). Compare neeze, from Middle English nesen, from Old English *hnēosan (“to sneeze”), cognate with Old High German niosan (“to sneeze”), Old Norse hnjósa (“to sneeze”). See neeze. Important forms in the word's history include Proto-Indo-European *pnew-, Middle English snesen, Old English fnēosan, Proto-West Germanic *fneusan, Proto-Germanic *fneusaną. In current use it includes senses such as To suddenly push air out through your nose and mouth because something irritates your nose and A sudden, uncontrolled burst of air from the nose and mouth.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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