Niveous
/ˈnɪv.i.əs/noun
Snowy; of, relating to, or resembling snow.
Did you know?Its Latin ancestor, nivis, comes from a snow-root shared with English snow, so this “fancy” word is basically old Indo-European winter magic in a tuxedo.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sneygʷʰ-
“to snow; snow, frozen precipitation”
Proto-Italic
Italic
*snigʷ- / *sneigʷ-
“snow”
Latin
Latin
nix, nivis
“snow”
Classical Latin
Latin
niveus
“snowy; white as snow”
Late Middle English / Early Modern English
English
niveous
“snow-white; resembling snow”
Modern English
English
niveous
“snowy; of or like snow”