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Origin and history of snow-shovel

snow-shovel(n.)

"flat, broad shovel made for throwing snow," 1820, from snow (n.) + shovel (n.).

also from 1820

Entries linking to snow-shovel

shovel(n.)

"instrument consisting of a broad scoop or curved blade with a handle," Middle English shovel, from Old English scofl, sceofol "shovel," from Proto-Germanic *skublo (source also of Old Saxon skufla, Swedish skovel, Middle Low German schufle, Middle Dutch shuffel, Dutch schoffel, Old High German scuvala, German Schaufel). The Old English noun is related to scufan "push away, thrust, push with violence" (see shove (v.)). Shovel-ready, with reference to construction projects, is attested by 2006.

snow(n.)

Middle English snou, from Old English snaw "snow, that which falls as snow; a fall of snow; a snowstorm," from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz (source also of Old Saxon and Old High German sneo, Old Frisian and Middle Low German sne, Middle Dutch snee, Dutch sneeuw, German Schnee, Old Norse snjor, Gothic snaiws "snow"), from PIE root *sniegwh- "snow; to snow" (source also of Greek nipha, Latin nix (genitive nivis), Old Irish snechta, Irish sneachd, Welsh nyf, Lithuanian sniegas, Old Prussian snaygis, Old Church Slavonic snegu, Russian snieg', Slovak sneh "snow"). The cognate in Sanskrit, snihyati, came to mean "he gets wet."

As slang for "cocaine" it is attested from 1914.

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    palette
    at one end for the thumb, used by an artist to lay and mix colors," from French palette, from Old French palete "small shovel..., blade" (13c.) diminutive of pale "shovel, blade," from Latin pala "spade, shoulder blade," probably from PIE *pag-slo-,...
    sleet
    c. 1300, slete, "precipitation of mingled snow and rain," probably from an unrecorded Old English *slete, *slyte, which is...In U.S. especially fine pellets of snow mingled with rain, usually wind-driven....
    flake
    "thin flat piece of snow; a particle," early 14c., also flauke, flagge, which is of uncertain origin, possibly from Old English...*flacca "flakes of snow," or from cognate Old Norse flak "flat piece," from Proto-Germanic *flakaz (source also of Middle...
    glove
    Gothic lofa "flat of the hand"), from PIE *lep- (2) "be flat; palm, sole, shoulder blade" (source also of Russian lopata "shovel...;" Lithuanian lopa "claw," lopeta "shovel, spade")....
    scoop
    Compare Dutch schop "a spade," related to German Schüppe "a shovel," also "a spade at cards."...The meaning "hand-shovel with a short handle and a deep, hollow receptacle" is from late 15c....
    drift
    early 14c., literally "a being driven" (at first of snow, rain, etc.); not recorded in Old English, it is either a suffixed...(compare thrift/thrive) or borrowed from Old Norse drift "snow drift," or Middle Dutch drift "pasturage, drove, flock," both...
    firn
    "consolidated snow, the raw material of glaciers," 1839, literally "last year's snow, névé," from German Firn, from Swiss...
    altruism
    1853, "unselfishness, devotion to the welfare of others, the opposite of egoism," from French altruisme, coined or popularized 1830 by French philosopher Auguste Comte, with -ism + autrui (Old French altrui) "of or to others," from Latin alteri, dative of alter "other" (see alter
    skeptic
    also sceptic, 1580s, "member of an ancient Greek school that doubted the possibility of real knowledge," from French sceptique and directly from Latin scepticus "the sect of the Skeptics," from Greek skeptikos (plural Skeptikoi "the Skeptics, followers of Pyrrho"), noun use of ad
    touch
    late 13c., "make deliberate physical contact with," from Old French tochier "to touch, hit, knock; mention, deal with" (11c., Modern French toucher), from Vulgar Latin *toccare "to knock, strike" as a bell (source also of Spanish tocar, Italian toccare), perhaps of imitative orig

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