Etymology

VAN *snøypa ‘to pinch, nip; rebuke, etc.’ supposing PGmc *snaupjan- can be reconstructed on the basis of Norw snøypa ‘to pinch, shock’, Sw snöpa ‘to castrate’ and (with metaphorically extended senses) OIcel sneypa ‘to outrage, dishonour, disgrace’ (Icel sneypa ‘to reprimand’) (see Magoun 1937: 135 and McGee 347); both literal and figurative senses are found in English. There are no direct cognates elsewhere in Gmc; the verb may be connected ultimately to words like OIcel snapa ‘to snuffle’ and snafðr ‘sharp-scented’, MHG snaben ‘to sniff’, OFris snabba ‘mouth’ and MLG snabbe ‘beak’ (Orel s.v. *snaƀƀōn), and it invites comparison with the similarly emphatic (and perhaps ideophonic) PDE snip and snap.

PGmc Ancestor

*snaupjan- 

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

sneypa ‘to outrage, dishonour, disgrace’ 
(ONP sneypa (2) (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Icel sneypa, Norw snøypa, OSw snöpa, Sw snöpa

OE Cognate

Phonological and morphological markers

ON /ey/ < PGmc */au/ by front mutation

Summary category

A1c

Attestation

A handful of occurrences in ME, mostly N and alliterative.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 2003; WA 3633, 3995

The A MS of WA reads <snyppand> at 1560 and the D MS <snappand>; MED suggests the D MS reading might be an error for *snaypand, and thus cites it as another instance of this v. with the sense 'nipping' (describing snow).

Bibliography

MED snaipen (v.) , OED snape (v.1) , HTOED , Dance snayped, Bj. 65, de Vries sneypa (2), Mag. sneypa (1)