Snig
/snɪɡ/noun
A small eel, especially one caught for food; in Australian English, it can also mean to haul logs.
Did you know?The eel sense is recorded in English from the sixteenth century, while the word’s deeper origin is uncertain and has been cautiously compared with old Germanic words for snakes and creeping animals.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European (possible)
PIE
*sneg-
“To crawl, creep, or move sinuously; a proposed comparison, not a certain derivation.”
Old English / Germanic (possible)
Germanic
*snakōn
“Snake or creeping reptile; sometimes proposed as part of the wider comparison surrounding snig.”
Middle English
Middle English
snigge
“A small eel or eel-like fish; the earliest form commonly connected with modern snig.”
16th Century
English
snig
“A small eel, particularly one caught or used as food.”
19th Century
Australian English
snig
“To haul or drag logs, with the related noun referring to the operation.”
Modern English
English
snig
“A dialectal or regional word for a small eel; also Australian logging terminology.”