sniper (English)
Where does "sniper" come from?
The term sniper originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India to describe a hunter skilled enough to kill the elusive, fast-flying snipe bird. By 1824, the meaning shifted from a specialized bird hunter to a military sharpshooter who targets enemies from a concealed position. The word is formed by adding the suffix '-er' to 'snipe', which itself derives from the Old Norse word 'snípa'.
Full etymology tree
- sniper (English), 'A person using long-range small arms for precise attacks from a concealed position.'
- suffix snipe (English), 'Any of various limicoline game birds of the genera Gallinago, Lymnocryptes and Coenocorypha in the family Scolopacidae, having a long, slender, nearly straight beak.'
- inherited snipe (Middle English)
- borrowed snípa (Old Norse)
- inherited snipe (Middle English)
- affix -er (English), 'A person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun.'
- suffix snipe (English), 'Any of various limicoline game birds of the genera Gallinago, Lymnocryptes and Coenocorypha in the family Scolopacidae, having a long, slender, nearly straight beak.'
Direct ancestors
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris