--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The word blizzard probably derives from…" description: "\"“The word blizzard probably derives from an Indian word, although its origin is now lost. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first written..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/jack-weatherford-17286_blizzard_the-word-blizzard-probably-derives-from_1977674.png" --- # The word blizzard probably derives from an Indian word… ![“The word blizzard probably derives from an Indian word, although its origin is now lost. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first written record of blizzard comes from the frontiersman Colonel Davy Crockett in 1834. Since Crockett used it without explanation, as though the reader…” quote by Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/jack-weatherford-17286_blizzard_the-word-blizzard-probably-derives-from_1977674.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/jack-weatherford-17286_blizzard_the-word-blizzard-probably-derives-from_1977674.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/jack-weatherford-17286_blizzard_the-word-blizzard-probably-derives-from_1977674.png) > ““The word blizzard probably derives from an Indian word, although its origin is now lost. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first written record of blizzard comes from the frontiersman Colonel Davy Crockett in 1834. Since Crockett used it without explanation, as though the reader would already know the word, we may assume that blizzard had already attained common usage by that time.”” [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The term “blizzard” entered English usage before its etymology was documented, showing how language evolves through common speech. **In simple terms:** Words can become common before their origins are recorded. Key Takeaway Recognize that language often spreads informally. Themes linguistics history etymology culture communication Mood curious educational Type historical informative When to use this quote - weather reporting - historical research - education - writing Key Concepts lexicography folk usage semantic shift historical linguistics Questions to Reflect On - What other common words have uncertain origins? - How does informal usage shape language? A Different Perspective Assuming a word’s origin without evidence can lead to misconceptions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blizzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blizzard/) [Blizzard Attained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blizzard-attained-3356830/) [Blizzard Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blizzard-comes-3356831/) [Davy Crockett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/davy-crockett/) [Word Blizzard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-blizzard-3356828/) [Word Origin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-origin-3356829/) ## Related quotes > [The word "mathematics" is a Greek word and, by origin, it means "something that has been learned or understood," or perhaps "acquired knowledge," or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salomon-bochner/the-word-mathematics-is-a-greek-word-and-by-origin-it-means-something/) [Salomon Bochner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salomon-bochner/) > [“Rocket Fever Grips Nation's Teenagers' cheers on enthusiastic newsreel, reflecting the nation's sudden reversal in attitude following the successful launch of Explorer-I into Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-hollings/rocket-fever-grips-nation-s-teenagers-cheers-on-enthusiastic-newsreel/) [Ken Hollings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-hollings/) > [The last time I appeared in Las Vegas, they were wearing hoop skirts and Davy Crockett hats, ... But they say 'What happens in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-rivers/the-last-time-i-appeared-in-las-vegas-they-were-wearing-hoop-skirts/) [Joan Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-rivers/) > [“The Borderlander’s combative culture has provided a large proportion of the nation’s military, from officers like Andrew Jackson, Davy Crockett, and Douglas MacArthur to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-woodard/the-borderlander-s-combative-culture-has-provided-a-large-proportion/) [Colin Woodard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-woodard/) > [It was the 1950s, you know, and they had a ray gun, which was basically a flashlight with a sort of trigger on it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-lowe/it-was-the-1950s-you-know-and-they-had-a-ray-gun-which-was-basically/) [Nick Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-lowe/) > [I have seen the film The Alamo and right now I feel like I've got Davy Crockett behind me. Sometimes I feel like I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-pearce/i-have-seen-the-film-the-alamo-and-right-now-i-feel-like-i-ve-got/) [Stuart Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-pearce/) > [When I was five or six, I started dressing up like Davy Crockett.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-collins/when-i-was-five-or-six-i-started-dressing-up-like-davy-crockett/) [Phil Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-collins/) > [None of my family had been entertainers. My Grandad liked to play 'The Ballad of Davy Crockett' on the comb and tissue paper every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kay/none-of-my-family-had-been-entertainers-my-grandad-liked-to-play-the/) [Peter Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kay/) > [“I remember certain group gatherings that are hard to get up and leave from. I remember alligators and quicksand in jungle movies. (Pretty scary.)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-brainard/i-remember-certain-group-gatherings-that-are-hard-to-get-up-and-leave/) [Joe Brainard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-brainard/) > [“Davy Crockett and James Bowie got what was coming to them," Mom said. "for stealing this land from the Mexicans"—and”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/davy-crockett-and-james-bowie-got-what-was-coming-to-them-mom-said/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There's a reason Archie didn't go the way of Betty Boop or Davy Crockett or Woody Woodpecker, forgotten relics of a bygone era, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-waid/there-s-a-reason-archie-didn-t-go-the-way-of-betty-boop-or-davy/) [Mark Waid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-waid/) > [I'm like the Davy Crockett of comedy... after Davy Crockett opened up the West and helped everybody... they didn't need him anymore. I freed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mooney/i-m-like-the-davy-crockett-of-comedy-after-davy-crockett-opened-up/) [Paul Mooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mooney/) > [“Nobody could have traveled a trail with more caution than yours truly, but I got nailed anyhow, and just when I was beginning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-downs-jr/nobody-could-have-traveled-a-trail-with-more-caution-than-yours-truly/) [Frederick Downs Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-downs-jr/) > [I never stopped thinking about the Alamo from that day to this. I'm a huge collector of memorabilia. I've got Davy Crockett's bullet pouch.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-collins/i-never-stopped-thinking-about-the-alamo-from-that-day-to-this-i-m-a/) [Phil Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-collins/) > [“They fought the Indians and then they fought the British, comprising 40 percent of the Revolutionary War army. They were the great pioneers— Daniel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-webb/they-fought-the-indians-and-then-they-fought-the-british-comprising/) [James Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-webb/) ## More by Jack Weatherford > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“Wyoming got an Algonquian name from Pennsylvania meaning “large prairie,” but the adoption came only after a long fight. Decades before the settling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/wyoming-got-an-algonquian-name-from-pennsylvania-meaning-large/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“By the time the settlers and pioneers of America reached the West Coast, they had gone through many dramatic landscapes, but nothing quite prepared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/by-the-time-the-settlers-and-pioneers-of-america-reached-the-west/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“discovery of gold and silver in America, the extirpation, enslavement and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, the beginning of the conquest and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/discovery-of-gold-and-silver-in-america-the-extirpation-enslavement/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“the poorest Mongol soldier ate mostly protein, thereby giving him strong teeth and bones.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/the-poorest-mongol-soldier-ate-mostly-protein-thereby-giving-him/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“Geoffrey Chaucer, the first author in the English language, devoted the longest story in The Canterbury Tales to the Asian conqueror Genghis Khan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/geoffrey-chaucer-the-first-author-in-the-english-language-devoted-the/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“officers composed their orders in rhyme, using a standardized system known to every soldier. The Mongol warriors used a set of fixed melodies and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/officers-composed-their-orders-in-rhyme-using-a-standardized-system/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [The great struggle of history has been for the control over money. It is almost tautological to affirm that to control the production and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/the-great-struggle-of-history-has-been-for-the-control-over-money-it/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“The Mongols offered no counterpart to the common public entertainment of burning people alive that occurred so frequently in western Europe wherever the Christian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/the-mongols-offered-no-counterpart-to-the-common-public-entertainment/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“The Mongol army had accomplished in a mere two years what the European Crusaders from the West and the Seljuk Turks from the East…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/the-mongol-army-had-accomplished-in-a-mere-two-years-what-the/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“The English explorer Martin Frobisher developed a novel technique for using the services of the Inuit as pilots for his ship during his first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/the-english-explorer-martin-frobisher-developed-a-novel-technique-for/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“The Mongols who inherited Genghis Khan’s empire exercised a determined drive to move products and commodities around and to combine them in ways that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/the-mongols-who-inherited-genghis-khan-s-empire-exercised-a/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“When he demanded gold, the Indians brought him copper, and when he demanded silver, they brought him silvery mica, which they mined in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/when-he-demanded-gold-the-indians-brought-him-copper-and-when-he/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“The great actors of history cannot be neatly tucked between the covers of a book and filed away like so many pressed botanical specimens.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/the-great-actors-of-history-cannot-be-neatly-tucked-between-the/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) > [“The industrial revolution did not begin in villages such as Kahl, in the workshops of skilled urban craftsmen, or even in the factories of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/the-industrial-revolution-did-not-begin-in-villages-such-as-kahl-in/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) [Explore all 37 Jack Weatherford quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) ## More Blizzard quotes > [The blizzard of the world has crossed the threshold and it's overturned the order of the soul...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/the-blizzard-of-the-world-has-crossed-the-threshold-and-it-s/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [I have always loved blizzards, if only because of the driving experience - which is definitely an acquired taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/i-have-always-loved-blizzards-if-only-because-of-the-driving/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [People hit the sauce in a big way all winter. Amidst blizzards they wrestle unsuccessfully with the dark comedy of their lives, laughter trapped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-gerstler/people-hit-the-sauce-in-a-big-way-all-winter-amidst-blizzards-they/) [Amy Gerstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-gerstler/) > [“Since I'm not part of it yet, I see it: how a group of people can become a blizzard, how all the tie spent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/since-i-m-not-part-of-it-yet-i-see-it-how-a-group-of-people-can/) [David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/) > [“Trees lose their leaves in blizzards like these.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashly-lorenzana/trees-lose-their-leaves-in-blizzards-like-these/) [Ashly Lorenzana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashly-lorenzana/) > [We had discovered an accursed country. We had found the Home of the Blizzard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-mawson/we-had-discovered-an-accursed-country-we-had-found-the-home-of-the/) [Douglas Mawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-mawson/) > [One of the things I think is unique and signature about Blizzard is that whenever they do their games, and with Warcraft in particular,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-jones/one-of-the-things-i-think-is-unique-and-signature-about-blizzard-is/) [Duncan Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-jones/) > [“Even the strongest blizzard starts with a single snowflake.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-raasch/even-the-strongest-blizzard-starts-with-a-single-snowflake/) [Sara Raasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-raasch/) > [How strange and abandoned and unsettled I am. Like a snowdome paper weight that's been shaken. There's a blizzard in my bubble. Everything in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-silvey/how-strange-and-abandoned-and-unsettled-i-am-like-a-snowdome-paper/) [Craig Silvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-silvey/) > [I'd been with Blizzard for almost 28 years when I stepped down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-morhaime/i-d-been-with-blizzard-for-almost-28-years-when-i-stepped-down/) [Michael Morhaime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-morhaime/) > [Janie calls Cabel. "Hi, uh, Mom," she says. Cabel snorts. "Hello, dear. Did you make it through the blizzard?" "Yeah. Barely." Janie grins into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-mcmann/janie-calls-cabel-hi-uh-mom-she-says-cabel-snorts-hello-dear-did-you/) [Lisa McMann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-mcmann/) > [We faced blizzards, sub-zero temperatures, and of course dangerous snow conditions and vertiginous drops. That's what you get when you're working with fickle mother…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/travis-rice/we-faced-blizzards-sub-zero-temperatures-and-of-course-dangerous-snow/) [Travis Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/travis-rice/) > [Somewhere someone is traveling furiously toward you, At incredible speed, traveling day and night, Through blizzards and desert heat, across torrents, through narrow passes.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ashbery/somewhere-someone-is-traveling-furiously-toward-you-at-incredible-2/) [John Ashbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ashbery/) > [A lot of the successful Blizzard games that you know actually grew out of failed projects. That was the case with 'World of Warcraft.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-morhaime/a-lot-of-the-successful-blizzard-games-that-you-know-actually-grew/) [Michael Morhaime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-morhaime/) > [Right-thinking people are not supposed to discuss any meteorological or geophysical event - a hurricane, a wildfire, a heat wave, a drought, a flood,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-achenbach/right-thinking-people-are-not-supposed-to-discuss-any-meteorological/) [Joel Achenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-achenbach/) [Browse all 99 Blizzard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blizzard/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The word blizzard probably derives from an Indian word, although its origin is now lost. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first written record of blizzard comes from the frontiersman Colonel Davy Crockett in 1834. 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