Sun, 04 Jan 2026 21:52:45 EST
Sneeze
In the late 15th century, the verb to sneeze appears in Middle English as the verb snesen. Before then, the verb was nesen. Before the verb was nesen, it was fnesen. Before the verb was fnesen, it was fnēosan. Fnēosan is Anglo-Saxon and means to sneeze or to snort. Fnēosan ultimately derives from the proto-Indo-European root pneu, which means to breathe.
Some believe that the alteration from fnesen to snesen was caused by a misreading of the f as an archaic long s. Others dispute this conclusion because of the existence of the intermediate form nesen.