snowfall
UK[ˈsnəʊfɔːl]US[ˈsnoʊfɔːl]
n
an occasion when snow falls from the sky; a fall of snow.
n
the amount of snow that falls in a particular place within a specific period.
Morpheme Breakdown
snow
fall
snow
frozen precipitation, snow.
fall
to drop from a height, to descend.
Etymology
the compound noun "snowfall" is a transparent combination of two ancient germanic roots. the first element, "snow," originates from the proto-germanic snaiwaz, which itself descends from the proto-indo-european root sniegwh-, meaning "to snow." the second element, "fall," derives from proto-germanic fallaną, "to fall," from the pie root phol-, "to fall." the literal, descriptive logic of "snow that falls" has remained consistent from its old english precursors into modern english, where it precisely denotes both the event of snow descending and the quantity accumulated from that event.
Analysis
Structure: snow + fall
snow: from old english snāw, meaning "frozen precipitation, snow." of proto-germanic origin, related to dutch sneeuw and german schnee.
fall: from old english feallan, meaning "to drop from a height, to descend." of proto-germanic origin, related to dutch vallen and german fallen.
Examples
the heavy snowfall overnight blocked all the major roads.
the annual snowfall in the mountains exceeds ten feet.
we are expecting light snowfall this afternoon.