Online Etymology Dictionary

smooth (v.): late Old English smoþ "to make smooth," replacing smeðan "to smooth, soften, polish; appease, soothe;" smeðian "smoothen, become smooth," from the source of smooth (adj.). Meaning "to make smooth" is c. 1200. Related: Smoothed; smoothing. Middle English also had a verb form smoothen (mid-14c.).
smoothie (n.): 1928, "suave person, person of complete self-assurance and poise, especially in the company of the opposite sex," college slang, from smooth (adj.) + -ie. As a type of blender drink, by 1983.
smoothly (adv.): 1520s, "in a smooth manner, blandly," from smooth (adj.) + -ly (2). Meaning "without impediment or complications" is from 1660s.
smoothness (n.): late 14c., "smoothness, evenness," from smooth (adj.) + -ness.
smorgasbord (n.): 1893, from Swedish smörgåsbord, literally "butter-goose table," from smörgås, "slice of bread and butter," compounded from smör "butter" (see smear (n.)) and gås, literally "goose" (and from the same Germanic root that yielded English goose (n.)).
[Smörgås] properly signifies "a slice of bread-and-butter"; and has come by custom--in much the same way as when we familiarly speak of "taking a sandwich" for partaking of some light refreshment--to be applied synecdochically to the preliminary relish or appetizer partaken of before meals. ["Notes and Queries," Nov. 15, 1884]
The final element is bord "table," from Proto-Germanic *burdam "plank, board, table" (see board (n.1)). Figurative sense of "medley, miscellany" is recorded from 1948.
smote: past tense of smite (v.).
smother (v.): c. 1200, "to suffocate with smoke," from smother (n.), earlier smorthre "dense, suffocating smoke" (late 12c.), from stem of Old English smorian "to suffocate, choke, strangle, stifle," cognate with Middle Dutch smoren, German schmoren; possibly connected to smolder. Meaning "to kill by suffocation in any manner" is from 1540s; sense of "to extinguish a fire" is from 1590s. Sense of "stifle, repress" is first recorded 1570s; meaning "to cover thickly (with some substance)" is from 1590s. Related: Smothered; smothering.
smoulder (v.): see smolder. Related: Smouldered; smouldering; smoulderingly.
smudge (v.): early 15c., smogen "to soil, stain, blacken," of obscure origin. Related: Smudged; smudging. Meaning "make a smoky fire" is from 1860, hence smudge-pot (1903). The noun meaning "a stain, spot, smear" is first attested 1768, from the verb.
smudgy (adj.): "dirty," 1859, from smudge (n.) + -y (2).
smug (adj.): 1550s, "trim, neat, spruce, smart," possibly an alteration of Low German smuk "trim, neat," from Middle Low German smücken "to adorn" (originally "to dress," secondary sense of words meaning "to creep or slip into"), from the same source as smock. The meaning "having a self-satisfied air" is from 1701, an extension of the sense of "smooth, sleek" (1580s), which was commonly used of attractive women and girls. Related: Smugly; smugness.
smuggle (v.): "import or export secretly and contrary to law," 1680s, of Low German or Dutch origin (see smuggler). Related: Smuggled; smuggling.
smuggler (n.): 1660s, from Low German smuggeln or Dutch smokkelen "to transport (goods) illegally," apparently a frequentative formation of a word meaning "to sneak" (from Proto-Germanic *smuganan; source also of Dutch smuigen "to eat secretly;" Swedish smyg "a lurking-hole," Danish smughandel "contraband trade," Norwegian smjuga, Old English smeogan "to creep"), perhaps literally "to slip (contraband through)," from Proto-Germanic *(s)muk- (see smock).
smush: 1825 (n.), variant of mush. As a verb, by 1980.
smut (n.): 1660s, "black mark, stain," from verb smutten "debase, defile" (late 14c.), later "stain or mark with soot, etc." (1580s), cognate with Middle High German smotzen "make dirty," from West Germanic *smutt- (source also of Middle High German smuz "grease, dirt;" German Schmutz "dirt," schmutzen "to make dirty"). The meaning "indecent or obscene language" is first attested 1660s.
smutch (v.): 1610s, variant of smudge (v.). As a noun from 1520s.
smutty (adj.): 1590s, "soiled with smut" (of grain); 1660s, "indecent," from smut + -y (2). Related: Smuttily; smuttiness. Smutty-nosed in ornithology means "having black nostrils."
snack (v.): c. 1300, "to bite or snap" (of a dog), probably from Middle Dutch or Flemish snacken "to snatch, snap; chatter," which Watkins traces to a hypothetical Germanic imitative root *snu- forming words having to do with the nose (see snout). The meaning "have a mere bite or morsel, eat a light meal" is first attested 1807. Related: Snacked; snacking.
snack (n.): c. 1400, "a snatch or snap" (especially that of a dog), from snack (v.). Later "a snappish remark" (1550s); "a share, portion, part" (1680s; hence old expression go snacks "share, divide; have a share in"). Main modern meaning "a bite or morsel to eat hastily" is attested from 1757. Snack bar is attested from 1923. Commercial plural form snax attested from 1942 in the vending machine trade.
snaffle (n.): "simple bridle-bit," 1530s, of uncertain origin, perhaps from or related to Dutch snavel "beak, bill;" compare German Schnabel "beak, face," Old English nebb, Old Norse neff "beak, nose" (see neb).
snafu (n.): 1941, U.S. military slang, acronym for situation normal, all fucked up, "an expression conveying the common soldier's laconic acceptance of the disorder of war and the ineptitude of his superiors" ["Oxford English Dictionary"]. As an adjective from 1942. In public explanations the word typically was euphemised to fouled.
snag (n.): 1570s, "stump of a tree, branch," of Scandinavian origin, compare Old Norse snagi "clothes peg," snaga "a kind of ax," snag-hyrndr "snag-cornered, with sharp points." The ground sense seems to be "a sharp protuberance." The meaning "sharp or jagged projection" is first recorded 1580s; especially "tree or branch in water and partly near the surface, so as to be dangerous to navigation" (1807). The figurative meaning "obstacle, impediment" is from 1829.
snag (v.): "be caught on an impediment," 1807, from snag (n.). Originally in American English, often in reference to steamboats caught on branches and stumps lodged in riverbeds. Of fabric, from 1967. The transitive meaning "to catch, steal, pick up" is U.S. colloquial, attested from 1895. Related: Snagged; snagging.
snaggle-toothed (adj.): "having crooked, projecting teeth," 1580s) from snag (n.), perhaps a frequentative formation, + toothed "having teeth" (of a certain kind); see tooth (n.). Alternative snaggle-tooth (adj.) is from 1650s; snaggle-tooth (n.) is from 1820.
snail (n.): Old English snægl, from Proto-Germanic *snagila (source also of Old Saxon snegil, Old Norse snigill, Danish snegl, Swedish snigel, Middle High German snegel, dialectal German Schnegel, Old High German snecko, German Schnecke "snail"), from *snog-, variant of PIE root *sneg- "to crawl, creep; creeping thing" (see snake (n.)). The word essentially is a diminutive form of Old English snaca "snake," which literally means "creeping thing." Also formerly used of slugs. Symbolic of slowness since at least c. 1000; snail's pace is attested from c. 1400.
snake (n.): Old English snaca, from Proto-Germanic *snakon (source also of Old Norse snakr "snake," Swedish snok, German Schnake "ring snake"), from PIE root *sneg- "to crawl, creeping thing" (source also of Old Irish snaighim "to creep," Lithuanian snake "snail," Old High German snahhan "to creep"). In Modern English, gradually replacing serpent in popular use.

Traditionally applied to the British serpent, as distinguished from the poisonous adder. Meaning "treacherous person" first recorded 1580s (compare Old Church Slavonic gadu "reptile," gadinu "foul, hateful"). Applied from 17c. to various snake-like devices and appliances. Snakes! as an exclamation is from 1839.

Snake eyes in crap-shooting sense is from 1919. Snake-bitten "unlucky" is sports slang from 1957, from a literal sense, perhaps suggesting one doomed by being poisoned. The game of Snakes and Ladders is attested from 1907. Snake charmer is from 1813. Snake pit is from 1883, as a supposed primitive test of truth or courage; figurative sense is from 1941. Phrase snake in the grass is from Virgil's Latet anguis in herba [Ecl. III:93].
snake (v.): 1650s, "to twist or wind (hair) into the form of a snake," from snake (n.). The intransitive sense of "to move like a snake" is attested from 1848; that of "to wind or twist like a snake" (of roads, etc.) is from 1875. Related: Snaked; snaking.
snake oil (n.): 1927 as "phony remedy," American English, from the use of oil derived from the fat of snakes (especially the rattlesnake) as a folk remedy in the rural regions of the U.S. Snake oil in this sense is attested by 1858. It was a folk remedy for rheumatism and gout in Georgia, but a cure for deafness in rural Pennsylvania. Professional pharmacy journals began to condemn it early 20c., not because it was quackery but because products sold under the name had no real snake oil in them.
What is known as snake oil is usually a combination which is handed out by the dealer to satisfy the demand of some credulous customer. A genuine oil of course is that which is obtained by "trying out" the fat of a snake, usually the rattlesnake, and to preserve their faces druggists sometimes employ a small proportion of such oil in preparing the weird mixtures dispensed by them. ["The Practical Druggist," July 1912]
snakehead (n.): 1845 as a type of plant; 1891 as a type of Asian carnivorous fish," from snake (n.) + head (n.).
snakestone (n.): "fossil ammonite," 1660s, from snake (n.) + stone (n.). So-called from the old popular notion that they were coiled snakes petrified.
snaky (adj.): 1560s, from snake (n.) + -y (2).
snap (n.): late 15c., "quick, sudden bite or cut," from Dutch or Low German snappen "to snap," probably related to Middle Low German or Middle Dutch snavel "bill, beak," from West Germanic *snu-, an imitative root forming words having to do with the nose (see snout).

As an adjective from 1790. Commonly used to indicate instantaneous action, as in snap judgment (1841). Sense of "quick movement" is first recorded 1630s; that of "something easily done" is 1877. Meaning "brief or sudden spell" of weather (usually cold) is from 1740. Meaning "catch or fastener that closes with a snapping sound" is from 1815. The card game name is attested from 1881, from a call used in the game. Meaning "a snap-shot" is from 1894. U.S. football sense is from 1912, earlier snap-back (1880), which also was a name for the center position. Snap, Crackle and Pop, cartoon characters associated with Kellogg breakfast cereal Rice Krispies, are from 1940.
snap (v.): 1520s, of animals, "to make a quick bite," from snap (n.). Meaning "to break suddenly or sharply" is first recorded c. 1600; the mental sense is from 1970s. Meaning "come into place with a snap" is from 1793. Meaning "take a photograph" is from 1890. U.S. football sense first recorded 1887. Related: Snapped; snapping. To snap the fingers is from 1670s. Phrase snap out of it recorded by 1907. Snapping turtle is attested from 1784. Snap-brim (adj.) in reference to a type of hat is from 1928.
snapdragon (n.): garden plant, 1570s, from snap (n.) + dragon. So called from fancied resemblance of antirrhinum flowers to a dragon's mouth. As the name of a Christmas game of plucking raisins from burning brandy and eating them alight, from 1704.
snape (v.): also sneap, "to be hard upon, rebuke, revile, snub," early 14c., from Old Norse sneypa "to outrage, dishonor, disgrace," probably related to similar-sounding words meaning "cut" (compare snip (v.)). Verbal meaning "bevel the end (of a timber) to fit an inclined surface" is of uncertain origin or connection. Snaiping "rebuking, reproaching, reviling" is attested from early 14c. Shakespeare has sneaped birds, annoyed by a late frost ("Rape of Lucrere").
snapper (n.): "one who or that which snaps," 1570s, agent noun from snap (v.). Applied to various fishes since 1690s. Slang meaning "vagina" is by 2000. As a short form of snapping turtle (1784) it is recorded from 1872. Snappers "teeth" is attested from 1924.
snappish (adj.): "peevish," 1540s, from snap (v.) + -ish. Related: Snappishly; snappishness.
snappy (adj.): "quick, energetic," 1825, from snap (v.) + -y (2). Meaning "clever, smart" is from 1871; that of "neat and stylishly elegant" is from 1881. Related: Snappily; snappiness. Command make it snappy attested from 1910.
snapshot (n.): also snap-shot, 1808, "a quick shot with a gun, without aim, at a fast-moving target," from snap + shot (n.). Photographic sense is attested from 1890. Figuratively, of something captured at a moment in time, from 1897.
snare (n.1): "noose for catching animals," late Old English, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse snara "noose, snare," related to soenri "twisted rope," from Proto-Germanic *snarkho (source also of Middle Dutch snare, Dutch snaar, Old High German snare, German Schnur "noose, cord," Old English snear "a string, cord"). Figuratively from c. 1300.
snare (n.2): "string across a drum," 1680s, probably from Dutch snaar "string," from same source as snare (n.1). From 1938 as short for snare-drum (1873).
snare (v.): late 14c., "to ensnare," from snare (n.1). Related: Snared; snaring.
snarf (v.): "to take, grab," by 1989. Related: Snarfed; snarfing.
snark (n.): imaginary animal, coined 1876 by Lewis Carroll in "The Hunting of the Snark." In 1950s, name of a type of U.S. cruise missile, and in 1980s, of a type of sailboat. Meaning "caustic, opinionated, and critical rhetoric" is from c.2002, probably from snarky and not directly related, if at all, to Lewis Carroll's use of snark.
snarky (adj.): "irritable, short-tempered," 1906, from snark (v.) "to find fault with, nag" (1882), literally "to snort" (1866), from an imitative source akin to Low German snarken, North Frisian snarke, Swedish snarka; and compare snarl (v.2), sneer (v.). Back-formation snark (n.) "caustic, opinionated, and critical rhetoric" is from c.2002 (compare snark (n.)). Related: Snarkily; snarkiness.
snarl (v.2): "growl and bare the teeth," 1580s, perhaps from Dutch or Low German snarren "to rattle," probably of imitative origin (compare German schnarren "to rattle," schnurren "to hum, buzz"). Meaning "speak in a harsh manner" first recorded 1690s. Related: Snarled; snarling.
snarl (v.1): "to tangle, to catch in a snare or noose" (trans.), late 14c., from a noun snarl "a snare, a noose" (late 14c.), probably a diminutive of snare (n.1). Intransitive sense "become twisted or entangled" is from c. 1600. Related: Snarled; snarling.
snarl (n.2): "a sharp growl accompanied by a display of the teeth," 1610s, from snarl (v.2).
snarl (n.1): late 14c., "a snare, noose," from snarl (v.1). Meaning "a tangle, a knot" is first attested c. 1600. Meaning "a traffic jam" is from 1933.
snatch (v.): early 13c., "make a sudden snap or bite" (at something), of uncertain origin; perhaps from an unrecorded Old English *snæccan or Middle Dutch snacken "to snatch, chatter." Compare snack (n.). Meaning "lay hold of suddenly" is from early 14c.; especially "take from someone's hands" (1580s). Weight-lifting sense is attested from 1928. Related: Snatched; snatching.