snorkel

Borrowed from German Schnorchel (“(submarine) snorkel”), related to schnarchen (“to snore”). Thus named because of the submarine snorkel's functional similarity to a nose and because of its noise when in use. The anglicized spelling was first recorded in 1945. See, for example, Mark S. Watson, "New Epoch in Sea War", The Baltimore Sun, December 31, 1945, p. 8: "The Germans' earlier quest of the last important objective, it will be remembered, had produced the Snorkel, a long exhaust tube whose vent reached above water and permitted a submerged vessel to discharge its Diesel fumes in open air."

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)kəl

snorkel (plural snorkels)

1. (underwater diving) A hollow tube, held in the mouth, or mounted on and opening into a diving mask, used by swimmers for breathing underwater.
2. A retractable tube fitted in diesel-engine submarines to allow sufficient ventilation that the engines may be used at periscope depth.

   Synonym: snort

3. A snorkel parka.

snorkel (third-person singular simple present snorkels, present participle (UK) snorkelling or (US) snorkeling, simple past and past participle (UK) snorkelled or (US) snorkeled)

1. To use a snorkel.

• snorkeler/snorkeller

Borrowed from English snorkel, from German Schnorchel.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsnɔr.kəl/

snorkel (plural snorkels)

1. A snorkel (swimming gear, breathing tube).

snorkel (present snorkel, present participle snorkelende, past participle gesnorkel)

1. to snorkel (to dive using a breathing tube)

First attested in the 1949. Borrowing from English snorkel, from German Schnorchel. The German word was coined in the 1940s to describe the Dutch snuiver.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsnɔr.kəl/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: snor‧kel

snorkel m (plural snorkels, diminutive snorkeltje n)

1. snorkel (swimming gear, breathing tube)
2. submarine snorkel, snort

   Synonym: snuiver

   • 1949 March 10, “De macht op zee”, in Amigoe di Curaçao, volume 65, number 5670, page 1:

     De snorkel stelt de duikboot in staat om onder water „adem te halen", en zodoende kan zij voor onbepaalde tijd onder water blijven.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• snorkelen

Borrowed from English snorkel, from German Schnorchel (“snorkel”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈsnor.kəl/, [ˈsnor.kəl]
• Rhymes: -kəl
• Hyphenation: snor‧kêl

snorkêl (plural snorkel-snorkel)

1. snorkel:
   1. a hollow tube, held in the mouth, or mounted on and opening into a diving mask, used by swimmers for breathing underwater
   2. snort: a retractable tube fitted in diesel-engine submarines to allow sufficient ventilation that the engines may be used at periscope depth

• “snorkel” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• esnórquel (rare, Brazil)

Unadapted borrowing from English snorkel.

snorkel m (plural snorkels)

1. snorkel (hollow tube used for breathing underwater)

• esnórquel
• esnórkel
• esnorquel

Unadapted borrowing from English snorkel.

• IPA^(key): /esˈnoɾkel/ [ezˈnoɾ.kel]
• Rhymes: -oɾkel

snorkel m (plural snorkels or snorkel)

1. snorkel
2. snorkelling

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

• “snorkel”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “snorkel”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• esnórkel | Diccionario de americanismos | ASALE
• snorkelear | Diccionario de americanismos | ASALE
• esnorkelear | Diccionario de americanismos | ASALE

snorkel c

1. a snorkel

• snorkla
• snorkling

• snorkel in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• snorkel in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• snorkel in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)