Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *sneygʷʰ-
Proto-Indo-European *snígʷʰs
Proto-Italic *sniks
Vulgar Latin nix
Vulgar Latin *nevem
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Italic *-āō
Vulgar Latin -ō
Vulgar Latin *nevāre
Old Galician-Portuguese nevar
Portuguese nevar
From Old Galician-Portuguese nevar, from Vulgar Latin *nevāre, ultimately from Latin nivem (“snow”, noun). By surface analysis, neve (“snow”) + -ar.