Wiktionary

snifter

English

WOTD – 27 November 2024

Etymology

 
Cognac in a snifter (noun sense 2.2).

The verb is derived from Middle English snifteren, snifter, snyfter (“to sniffle”),[1] possibly from *snift (possibly derived from a Old Norse word—compare Old Danish snifte and Swedish snyfta (“to sniffle; to sob”);[2] probably ultimately imitative)[3] + -er- (frequentative suffix)[4] + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs).[5]

The noun is derived from the verb.[6]

Pronunciation

Verb

snifter (third-person singular simple present snifters, present participle sniftering, simple past and past participle sniftered)

  1. (intransitive) To sniff; also, to snivel or snuffle.
    • 1611, Randle Cotgrave, compiler, “Brouffer”, in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, signature [M vj], verso, column 1:
      Brouffer. To ſnurt, or ſnifter vvith the noſe, like a horſe.
    • 1611, Randle Cotgrave, compiler, “Nifler”, in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, signature Kkk, recto, column 1:
      Nifler. To ſnifter, or ſnuffe vp ſniuell; to dravv it vp by dravving in the vvind.
    • 1835, James Hogg, “Some Remarkable Passages in the Life of an Edinburgh Baillie, Written by Himself”, in Tales of the Wars of Montrose. […], volume I, London: James Cochrane and Co. […], →OCLC, page 130:
      I confess when I heard this read out in a strong, mellow and affecting tone, I could not resist crying; the tears ran down my cheeks, and I was obliged to dight them with my sleeve, and snifter like a whipped boy.
  2. (transitive, archaic, rare) Followed by out: to speak (words) in a nasal, snuffling manner.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

snifter (plural snifters)

  1. (chiefly Northern England, Scotland) A sniff.
  2. (figurative)
    1. (chiefly Northern England, Scotland) A strong or severe wind.
    3. (originally and chiefly US) A small, wide, pear-shaped glass used for drinking aromatic liquors such as bourbon and brandy.
      Synonyms: brandy bowl, brandy glass, brandy snifter, cognac glass, whiskey glass
      • 2003 January 20, “Getting Saucy”, in Time‎[1], New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2012-11-03:
        [H]e springs to another wooden vat and turns a valve, filling a snifter with a warm amber liquid. […] Bang holds the liquid up to the light, swirls it around, takes a sniff of the pungent bouquet, puts the glass to his lips—and gives a satisfied smile.
    4. (originally US, informal) Synonym of nip (“a small amount of an alcoholic beverage, especially one equivalent to what a snifter (sense 2.2) might hold”)
    5. (US, slang) Synonym of cocaine addict; a sniffer.
    6. (US, slang) A small amount of cocaine taken by inhaling through the nose.
    7. (US, slang) A handheld device used to detect signals from radio transmitters; a sniffer.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ “snifteren, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ Compare “snifter, v., n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
  3. ^ “snifter, v.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2024.
  4. ^ “-er-, suf.(3)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  5. ^ “-en, suf.(3)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  6. ^ “snifter, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2023; “snifter, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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