901: snivel, snuff, and sniff (Snu) May 27, 2017

The Proto-Indo-European (PIE) word for 'nose' is thought to have been 'snu' which led to the derivation of many other words relating to noses such as 'snout', 'snot', and more nouns, It also led to the creation of certain verbs we have today like 'sneeze'. 'Snivel', which is more often found as the adjective 'sniveling', comes from the Old English 'snyflung' as a verbal noun from 'snofl' meaning ‘mucus’, though it has only been recorded as a verbal noun. The word nowadays doesn't relate to noses, at least not directly, but the related word 'snuffle' certainly does. Having so many of these other related words helps to influence the formation of more, as was the case with 'snuffle' which was first found in the 16th century but is also related to 'snuff', as in tobacco found about a century later. Not off of the 'sn-' words that relate to noses can be attributed to PIE however, as though it was the foundation for many words, some do pop up on their own somewhat. Both 'sniff' and 'sniffle' were created in the last few hundred years due to onomatopoetic imitation of how those sound; no one is sure about much concerning PIE, but it might be safe to assume 'snu' was formed the same way.