different between snot vs phlegm

English

Etymology

From Middle English snot, snotte, from Old English ?esnot, *snott, from Proto-Germanic *snuttuz (“nasal mucus”), from the same base as snout. Related also to snite.

Cognate with North Frisian snot (“snot”), Saterland Frisian Snotte (“snot”), West Frisian snotte (“snot”), Dutch snot (“snot”), German Low German Snött (“snot”), dialectal German Schnutz (“snot”), Danish snot (“snot”), Norwegian snott (“snot”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: sn?t, IPA^(key): /sn?t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Noun

snot (countable and uncountable, plural snots)

1. (informal, uncountable) Mucus, especially mucus from the nose.
   • c.1948, George Orwell, Such, Such Were the Joys

     Once, I remember, the little fair-haired boy had a choking fit at dinner, and a stream of snot ran out of his nose on to his plate in a way horrible to see.

2. (slang, countable) A contemptible child.
   • 2010, Ernest L. Rhodes, A Coal Miner's Family at Mooseheart (page 19)

     With no warning a gang of little snots — none larger or older than I was — threw me to the ground, pulled my knickers below my knees — without any explanation, and allowed me to get up.

3. (slang, obsolete) A mean fellow.

Synonyms

• booger (US) (but note this noun is countable)

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

snot (third-person singular simple present snots, present participle snotting, simple past and past participle snotted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To blow, wipe, or clear (the nose).
2. (intransitive) To sniff or snivel; to produce snot, to have a runny nose.
   • 2014, Caitlin Moran, How to Build a Girl, Ebury 2015, p. 148:

     I was snotting all into my mouth and having to eat it, silently shuddering.

Translations

Anagrams

• NOTs, SOTN, Ston, TNOs, nots, onst, tons

Danish

Etymology

From Middle Low German snotte

Noun

snot n (definite singular snottet) (uncountable)

1. snot (nasal mucus) (informal in English, not in Danish)

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch snotte, from Old Dutch *snotto, from Proto-Germanic *snuttuz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sn?t/
• Hyphenation: snot
• Rhymes: -?t

Noun

snot n (uncountable)

1. snot, nasal mucus

Derived terms

• snotaap
• snotneus

Anagrams

• Sont

Middle English

Alternative forms

• snotte, snott, snothe

Etymology

From Old English ?esnot, *snott, from Proto-Germanic *snuttuz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?sn?t(?)/

Noun

snot (uncountable) (rare)

1. Snot, mucus (matter accreting in the nose)
2. The remnants of a burnt and expired candle wick.

Descendants

• English: snot
• Scots: snot

References

• “snotte, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-26.

English

Etymology

From Middle English flewme, fleume, fleme, from Old French fleume, Middle French flemme (French flegme), and their source, Latin phlegma, from Ancient Greek ?????? (phlégma, “flame; inflammation; clammy humor in the body”), from ??????? (phlégein, “to burn”). Compare phlox, flagrant, flame, bleak (adjective), fulminate. Spelling later altered to resemble the word's Latin and Greek roots.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /fl?m/
• Rhymes: -?m

Noun

phlegm (usually uncountable, plural phlegms)

1. (historical) One of the four humors making up the body in ancient and mediaeval medicine; said to be cold and moist, and often identified with mucus. [from 13th c.]
   • 1993, William Dalrymple, City of Djinns, HarperCollins 1993:

     Each person's unique mixture of these substances determines his temperament: a predominance of blood gives a sanguine temperament; a predominance of phlegm makes one phlegmatic; yellow bile, bilious (or choleric); and black bile, melancholic.

2. Viscid mucus produced by the body, later especially mucus expelled from the bronchial passages by coughing. [from 14th c.]
   • 2005, "Endangered Species?" Hannah Beech, Time, 14 Nov 2005:

     "Even some members of the new bourgeoisie indulge in conspicuously boorish behavior, like hawking phlegm onto the pavement or picking their noses at business meetings."

4. (historical, chemistry, alchemy) A watery distillation, especially one obtained from plant matter; an aqueous solution. [from 16th c.]
   • 1812, Humphry Davy, The Elements of Chemical Philosophy, Introduction, Part I. Vol. I, pp. 50-51:

     The attempts made to analyse vegetable substances previous to 1720, merely produced their resolution into the supposed elements of the chemists of those days, namely, salts, Earths, phlegm, and sulphur.

5. Calmness of temperament, composure; also seen negatively, sluggishness, indifference. [from 16th c.]
   • 1942, "Warning to Sweden", Time, 5 Oct 1942:

     But Swedish Nazis also talked of the necessity of saving Sweden from Bolshevism, and with the menacing Berlin radio gnawing in their ears many Swedes lost their Scandinavian phlegm.

Related terms

• phlegmatic

Derived terms

• phlegmish
• phlegmy

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “phlegm”, in Online Etymology Dictionary
• “phlegm” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.