snack

Where does the word "snack" come from? It comes from Dutch snacken, passing through Middle English before entering English (mid-1700s onward).

Snack’s story begins in Dutch: snacken meant “to snap, bite.” An imitative word for the snap of teeth biting. By c. 1300, the word had taken hold in Middle English as snacke. Borrowed as a verb meaning to snap or bite at something. It reached English by mid-1700s onward as snack. Shifted from the act of biting to the small bite of food itself. Today, snack means a small amount of food eaten between main meals.

1. Stage 1 · Dutch · medieval snacken "to snap, bite", an imitative word for the snap of teeth biting.
2. Stage 2 · Middle English · c. 1300 snacke "to bite or snap", borrowed as a verb meaning to snap or bite at something.
3. Stage 3 · English · mid-1700s onward snack "a small amount of food eaten between meals", shifted from the act of biting to the small bite of food itself.