sneeze
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sneeze
- /sniːz/
Rhymes with -iːz
Where it comes from
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 of the uncommon initial sequence fn- as ſn- (sn- written with a long s), although the change is regular, seen also in snore and snort from Middle English fnoren and fnorten, and in late Middle English snatted from earlier Middle English fnatted (“snub-nosed”). The fn- forms of all these words fell out of use in the 1400s. Due to this rather universal adoption of the fn- > sn- shift within English by such a time frame, the idea of it being a simple sound shift has been suggested as well, with it specifically being a type of assimilation as the labial f- becomes alveolar s- to match the place of articulation of the following n-.
verb sneezes · sneezing · sneezed · snoze
-
To expel air as a reflex induced by an irritation in the nose.
To avoid passing on your illness, you should sneeze into your sleeve.
Similar: neeze, sternutate
- To expel air as if the nose were irritated.
- To expel or displace (air, snot, etc) from the nose or mouth by the process above. Lily shook her head violently and sneezed a large blue-bottle fly from where that insect had perched itself on the tip of her nose.
noun sneezes
-
An act of sneezing.
Jared's hay fever gives him terrible sneezes.
Similar: sternutation, ptarmus
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: sternutation, verb, exhale, snet, breathe, sneap, breathe out, spit, expire, outbreathe, perspire, exsufflate, sweat out, blow off, nauseate, emunge
Translations
Every language
verb expel air as a reflex
| Español | estornudar |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 재채기하다 jaechaegihada |
| 日本語 | くしゃみをする kushami o suru, しゃみをする shami o suru |
| 中文 | 打噴嚏 /打喷嚏 dǎ pēntì |
| हिन्दी | छींकना chī̃knā |
| Português | espirrar |
| Français | éternuer |
| Deutsch | niesen |
| Italiano | starnutire |
| Ελληνικά | φταρνίζομαι ftarnízomai, φτερνίζομαι fternízomai, πταρνίζομαι ptarnízomai |
| Română | strănuta |
| Русский | чиха́ть čixátʹ, чихну́ть čixnútʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | hắt hơi, hắt xì, nhảy mũi |
| العربية | عَطَسَ ʕaṭasa |
| עברית | הִתְעַטֵּשׁ hit'atésh |
noun act of sneezing
| Español | estornudo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 재채기 jaechaegi |
| 日本語 | くしゃみ kushami |
| 中文 | 噴嚏 /喷嚏 pēntì |
| हिन्दी | छींक chī̃k |
| Português | espirro |
| Français | éternuement, atchoum |
| Deutsch | Niesen |
| Italiano | starnuto |
| Ελληνικά | φτάρνισμα ftárnisma, φτέρνισμα ftérnisma, πτέρνισμα ptérnisma |
| Română | strănut |
| Русский | чиха́ние čixánije |
| Tiếng Việt | cái hắt hơi, cái hắt xì |
| العربية | عُطَاس ʕuṭās, عَطْسَة ʕaṭsa |
Talk about this word "sneeze." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sneeze. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. sneeze. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sneeze "sneeze." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sneeze.Cite this
@misc{sneeze_2026,
title = {sneeze},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sneeze},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
