Snuff
/snʌf/noun
Powdered tobacco inhaled through the nose, or the act of extinguishing a flame.
Did you know?The verb sense “to snuff out” is tied to the idea of pinching or extinguishing a flame, while the tobacco sense comes from the same word used for the finely powdered form of tobacco taken by nose—language made “smoke” into a ritual.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*snūfaną
“to sniff, snuff, breathe noisily”
Old English
OE
snūfan
“to sniff or blow the nose”
Middle English
ME
snuffen
“to sniff, breathe through the nose; later to extinguish a candle flame”
16th Century
English
snuff
“fine powdered tobacco for taking by the nose”
Modern English
English
snuff
“powdered tobacco; the act of extinguishing a flame”