Snack
/snæk/noun
A small amount of food eaten between meals.
Did you know?The word entered English from a Low German/Dutch family of words meaning to snap or bite, so your ‘snack’ began as a sound of sudden teeth-on-food action, not a cute meal.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*snappōną
“to snap, bite at, seize quickly”
Middle Dutch
Dutch
snacken
“to bite or snap at”
Low German
LG
snacken
“to bite; to eat a little”
16th Century
English
snacke
“a bite or morsel of food”
Modern English
English
snack
“a small amount of food eaten between meals”