snowchild

English

A snowchild with its parents

Etymology

From snow +‎ child.

Noun

snowchild (plural snowchildren)

1. A visual representation of a child made from snow.
   • 1868 November, “Hugh Carmichael’s Secret”, in The Odd Fellow’s Companion, Devoted to the Interests of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and General Literature, volumes IV—1868–1869, Columbus, Ohio: M. C. Lilley & Co., […], “Chapter XXVII”, page 213, column 1:

     And she wrote her letters: one to Joyce, that told of her safety without disclosing her place of refuge; another a longer, fuller one, to Mr. Chester, telling him of all that had happened, of her doubts and difficulties, and begging him to come to her; “for, you know, dear old Gabriel,” she said, “that my mother made you a sort of guardian, and, as you have plenty of money, and can go where you please, do let it please you to come to the poor “snowchild,” who has fled out into the snow, and is shivering all alone in the cold world.” This latter clause was purely metaphorical, as Doris was sitting comfortably by the fireside, with Mrs. Howell blandly contemplating her from the opposite corner, and meditating, like Aunt Lotty, on the possibility of a wedding, with Mr. Chester and Doris for bridegroom and bride.

   • 1954, Janet M. Ferrier, Forerunners of the French Novel: An Essay on the Development of the Nouvelle in the Late Middle Ages, Manchester University Press, page 51:

     Another example of the stylised mould into which earlier stories are fashioned to become nouvelles is that of the snowchild (Montaiglon et Raynaud, Fabliaux, Vol. I, No. XIV; Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles, XIX) to which reference has already been made.

   • 1975, The Wisconsin Times, page 13, column 2:

     The play, entitled “Snowflake”, was based on a Russian legend about a childless couple who were given a snowchild by the children of the village. The snowchild comes to life when the Snow King takes pity on the couple and turns the children’s snowchild into a real child.

   • 1978, DeKalb Literary Arts Journal: The Magazine of Literature and the Arts of DeKalb Community College, volume 12, page 11:

     Todd still gripped the misshapen reddish chimneytop in the fist that had collapsed the roof, flattening the gingerbread house and with it the little cookie snowman and snowwoman and snowchild.

   • 1979, David Green, A Pacific Crest Odyssey: Walking the Trail from Mexico to Canada, Wilderness Press, →ISBN, page 112:

     Fir trees, pregnant with snowchild, sway heavily in the gilding sun.

   • 1988, Tinch Minter, Anthony Vivis, transl., The Conquest of the South Pole & Man to Man (The Royal Court Writers Series), Methuen Drama, translation of original by Manfred Karge, →ISBN, page 18:

     Christ Almighty, a child in Christ. I’m getting hot, hot’s what I’m getting. The top of my skull is lifting off. For Christ’s sake, a child. It’ll be a snowchild. The first snowbody will now become somebody. A child. It’s already on a journey.

   • 1992, Beverley Farmer, The Seal Woman, University of Queensland Press, published 1993, pages 129–130:

     Lyn and I made a snowchild in the shade of a grove of gums.

   • 1995, Amit Dasgupta, “1. Once Upon A Time”, in Amit Dasgupta, editor, Telling Tales: Children’s Literature in India, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi & New Age International Publishers Limited; V. S. Johri for Wiley Eastern Limited, →ISBN, page 4:

     “Let us make a snowchild,” said the old man to his wife. What a lovely snowchild it was, that they made. Small, with a tiny nose and mouth and eyes and ears. And as they watched, the snowchild’s eyes suddenly blinked. The old lady could not believe her eyes. Was the snow playing tricks? Slowly, in front of their eyes, the snowchild turned into a lovely baby girl.

   • 1995, The Horn Book Guide to Children’s and Young Adult Books, volume 6, Horn Book, page 36, column 2:

     Her loneliness and her rejection by other children are traced through the seasons until winter, when she builds a snowchild, which invites the companionship of a new friend.

   • 1995, Carmel Bird, The White Garden, University of Queensland Press, →ISBN, page 91:

     Dance, dance, dance little lady, lady in the snow, snowchild in the storm. A whirling ice-maiden I dance and I swim and I fly with the wild flying insects.

   • 1998, Kai Maristed, Belong to Me: Stories, Random House, →ISBN, page 79:

     I focused over her shoulder to where Tara was clumsily rolling a chunk of snow back and forth—to build a snowman, I guessed. In her puffy parka Tara looked like an animated snowchild, herself: bubble-shaped, stumpy.

   • 1998, Carol Goodman Heizer, edited by Elaine Thomas, And Another Thing ... about Living, Loving, and Learning, Alpha Publishing, →ISBN, page 53:

     If we are especially creative, we will make a snowman and a snowlady, along with a snowchild or two.

   • 2001, Uzma Aslam Khan, The Story of Noble Rot, Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 112:

     Outside a milky sky blew masses of tissue paper around a figure wrapped in white robes, whose eyes flashed candent. The caption had read, ‘Un enfant de neige’. She looked it up: a snowchild.

   • 2009, Sue Sheppy, Personal, Social and Emotional Development in the Early Years Foundation Stage, Routledge, →ISBN, page 93:

     Gilori, D. (1994) The Snowchild, London: Frances Lincoln. (Katie is always left out and doesn’t know how to play, but one day when she builds herself a snowchild, she discovers a true friend.)

   • 2013, Marian Small, “3. Grades 3–5”, in Eyes on Math: A Visual Approach to Teaching Math Concepts, Teachers College Press, →ISBN, “Multiplying Fractions”, page 114:

     A snowfather is skating with his snowchildren. / Which fraction of the group is not wearing a skirt? / Which fraction of the children is not wearing a skirt? / […] The picture provided here allows the students to see the difference between taking a fraction of a whole and a fraction of a part. Initially, they notice that 3 out of 4 of the snowpeople are not wearing a skirt, but only 2 out of 3 of the snowchildren are not, so different fractions are involved in the two related situations.

Synonyms

• snowkid (informal)