Etymology
1. 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”).
2. 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).
3. Verb etymology 1, verb sense 2.3.2 (“to convince or hoodwink (someone)”) probably refers to a person being blinded or confused by a snowstorm.
4. The adjective comes from the phrase a snowball's chance in hell, also see snowball clause at Wikipedia.
5. Cognates
6. * Scots snaw (“snow”)
7. * Yola sneew, sneow, snow, snowe (“snow”)
8. * North Frisian Sne, sni, snii, snii'e, snä, snäi (“snow”)
9. * Saterland Frisian Snee (“snow”)
10. * West Frisian snie (“snow”)
11. * Alemannic German schnee, schnei, schnia, schné, schnìj (“snow”)
12. * Bavarian schnea, sghneab (“snow”)
13. * Cimbrian snea, snèa (“snow”)
14. * Dutch snee, sneeuw (“snow”)
15. * German Schnee (“snow”)
16. * Limburgish Schnië, snieë (“snow”)
17. * Luxembourgish Schnéi (“snow”)
18. * Mòcheno schnea (“snow”)
19. * Vilamovian śnej, šnej, śnyi (“snow”)
20. * Yiddish שניי (shney, “snow”)
21. * Danish sne (“snow”)
22. * Elfdalian sniųo (“snow”)
23. * Faroese snjógvur (“snow”)
24. * Icelandic snjár, snjór, snær (“snow”)
25. * Norwegian Bokmål sne, snø (“snow”)
26. * Norwegian Nynorsk snjo, snø (“snow”)
27. * Swedish snö (“snow”)
28. * Gothic 𐍃𐌽𐌰𐌹𐍅𐍃 (snaiws, “snow”)
29. * Irish sneachta (“snow”)
30. * Manx sniaghtey (“snow”)
31. * Scottish Gaelic sneachd, sneachda (“snow”)
32. * Welsh nyf (“snow”)
33. * Latin nix (“snow”)
34. * Ancient Greek νίψ (níps, “snow”)
35. * Latvian snìegs (“snow”)
36. * Lithuanian sniẽgas (“snow”)
37. * Belarusian, Russian, and Macedonian снег (sneg, “snow”)
38. * Bulgarian сняг (snjag, “snow”)
39. * Czech sníh (“snow”)
40. * Polish śnieg, śmiég (“snow”)
41. * Serbo-Croatian сне̑г, сније̑г, snȇg, snig, snijȇg (“snow”)
42. * Slovak sneh (“snow”)
43. * Slovene sneg (“snow”)
44. * Ukrainian сніг (snih, “snow”)
45. * Shughni жиниҷ (žiniǰ, “snow”)
46. * Avestan 𐬯𐬥𐬀𐬉𐬲𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (snaēžaⁱti, “to snow”)
47. * Sanskrit स्नेह (snéha, “grease, oil”) See: English '
snew', Frisian, Northern 'Sne', Frisian, Saterlandic 'Snee', Alemannic German '
schnee', Bavarian 'schnea', Danish '
sne', Norwegian '
sne', Manx '
sniaghtey'.