snow
/snoʊ̯/noun, verb, adjective
snow is spelled S-N-O-W: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, snow means “The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; also, the falling of such flakes; and the…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of snow is snows.
How many letters and syllables are in snow?
| Letters | 4: S-N-O-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 46 times per million words; the 2,204th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is snow?
Snow appears 46 times per million words in written English, the 2,204th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce snow?
- UK /snəʊ̯/
- US /snoʊ̯/
- /sno/
Snow has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-snow.ogg, En-us-snow.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with snow?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as snow from its last stressed vowel (/oʊ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sown.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of snow
- snows plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- snowing participle, present
- snowed past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural
- snaw
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does snow mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The partly frozen, crystalline state of water that falls from the atmosphere as precipitation in flakes; also, the falling of such flakes; and the accumulation of them on the ground or on objects as a white layer.
- 2
An instance of the falling of snow (etymology 1, noun sense 1); a snowfall; also, a snowstorm.
We have had several heavy snows this year.
- 3
A period of time when snow falls; a winter.
- 4
An accumulation or spread of snow.
- 5
A dish or component of a dish resembling snow, especially one made by whipping egg whites until creamy.
apple snow lemon snow
- 6
The white color of snow.
- 7
Clusters of white flowers.
- 8
The moving pattern of random dots seen on a radar or television screen, etc., when no transmission signal is being received or when there is interference.
Near-synonym: static
- 9
A square-rigged sailing vessel similar to a brig formerly used as a warship, with a foremast, a mainmast, and a trysail mast immediately abaft (behind) the mainmast.
verb
- 1
Preceded by the dummy subject it: to have snow (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1) fall from the atmosphere.
It is snowing. It started to snow.
- 2
Of a thing: to fall like snow.
- 3
To cause (something) to fall like snow.
- 4
To cover or scatter (a place or thing) with, or as if with, snow.
- 5
To cause (hair) to turn white; also, to cause (someone) to have white hair.
- 6
slangTo convince or hoodwink (someone), especially by presenting confusing information or through flattery.
- 7
slangTo bluff (an opponent) in draw poker by playing a hand which has no value, or by refusing to draw any cards.
- 8
USslangTo cause (someone) to be under the effect of a drug; to dope, to drug.
adjective
- 1
Done because the alternate outcome is very unlikely to pass.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Snow in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | neige , chute de neige , blanc comme neige , neiger , senau |
| German | Schnee , Schneefall , schneeweiß , schneien , Schnau , Grieß |
| Portuguese | neve , nevada , branco-neve , nevar , chuvisco |
| Spanish | nieve , nieves, nevada , nevar, algaracear |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does snow come from?
The noun is derived from Middle English snaw, snou, snow (“snow; accumulation of snow; snowfall; snowstorm; whiteness”), from Old English snāw (“snow”), from Proto-West Germanic *snaiw (“snow”), from Proto-Germanic *snaiwaz (“snow”), from Proto-Indo-European *snóygʷʰos (“snow”), from *sneygʷʰ- (“to snow”). The verb is derived from Middle English snouen (“to snow; (figurative) to shower”), from snou, snow (noun) (see above) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive of verbs). Displaced Old English snīwan, whence English snew (obsolete).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).