Etymology

This rare n. is only attested in WA 1560 ('Be ilka barne in þe burgh as blaʒt ere þaire wedis/As any snyppand snawe þat in þe snape liʒtis'), but usually identified with the place-name element snape (so EPNE). No ON etymon survives, but the sense in WA is usually explained by comparison with Icel snöp (fem. and neut. pl. with u-mutation) 'patch of scanty grass for sheep to nibble at in snow-covered fields, poor pasture'. The Icel. n. is always related to the v. snapa 'beg', as Jayne Carroll notes, used in the phrase 'Þarna snapaði rollan sér gras', continuing (rare) OIcel snapa 'sniff, snuffle (as a dog picking up crumbs from the floor)'. The Gmc root *snapp is only otherwise attested in Du snappen 'snatch', MHG snappen.

PGmc Ancestor

*snapp-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

cp. snapa 'to sniff, snuffle'
(ONP cp. snapa (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Icel snöp

OE Cognate

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

B2c

Attestation

This is the unique textual attestation of a n. otherwise known only as a place-name element, e.g. Snape, Lan. Instances of the place-names with this element are difficult to differentiate from those < OE snæp 'boggy piece of land', which are formally identical (see EPNE).

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

WA 1560

Bibliography

MED snape (n.) , OED snape (n.3) , EPNE snap, de Vries snapa, Mag. snöp, snapa, Orel snappēnan ~ *snappōjanan