Imagine for a moment that you are with a group of people and someone sneezes. How do the other people in the group respond to the sneeze, what do they say? Before answering this question and looking at some of the superstitions surrounding sneezing, let’s explore some etymology.
The verb “to sneeze” entered English in the late fifteenth century. It comes from the Old English “fneosan” which means both “to snort” and “to sneeze.” The Old English came from Proto-Germanic “*fneusanan” which is generally felt to be of an imitative origin (also known as onomatopoeia, a word which imitates the natural sounds of a thing).
Words which begin with “fn” are rather rare and tend to be words which have to do with breathing or words which were influenced by Norse. In Middle English, “fnese” was reduced to “nese” and then evolved into “sneeze” as this was phonetically more appropriate.
For English-speaking people, the most frequent responses to a sneeze was to say either “Bless you” or “God bless you.” One of the possible origins of these two expressions is the belief that a sneeze may release the person’s soul from their body, thus making it possible for the evil spirits which are lurking nearby to capture it and take over the body. An alternative belief claims that the evil spirits can enter the body through the open mouth of the sneezing person. In either case, a blessing is needed as a form of exorcism to prevent evil spirits from possessing the person.
In early Medieval Europe, it was believed that life was tied to breath, thus “expire,” which originally meant “to exhale,” came to acquire the meaning of “to die.” Since a sneeze involves an expulsion of air from the body, it was felt that sneezing could be fatal and thus blessing a person was a way of helping them to stay alive.
During the European Renaissance it was believed by many people that a person’s heart would stop for a very brief moment at the time of a sneeze. Blessing a person was, therefore, a prayer that the heart would restart.
Sneezing has often been associated with illness. In the fourteenth century, at a time when the plague was killing many people, sneezing was associated with the disease. Thus, blessing the individual was felt to be a way of preventing the spread of the plague. Since the plague is no longer a major concern (at least at the present time), blessing someone is felt to prevent catching the flu, cold, or other illness.
There are some writers who feel that the response of “God bless you” to a sneeze originated with Pope Gregory the Great, who served as pope from 590 to 604. To combat an epidemic that was ravishing Italy at this time, Gregory issued prayers to be said against the often fatal illness. These prayers were, of course, to be administered with the sign of the cross. Some people feel that this is when saying “God bless you” was firmly established as a response to the sneeze.
Interestingly, English-speaking people sometimes respond to a sneeze with the German word “gesundheit” or the Spanish word “salud,” both of which mean “health.”
In seventeenth century English, there was a rhyme about sneezing on certain days of the week:
Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger.
Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger.
Sneeze on Wednesday, sneeze for a letter.
Sneeze on Thursday, something better.
Sneeze on Friday, sneeze for woe.
Sneeze on Saturday, a journey to go.
Sneeze on Sunday, your safety seek—for Satan will have you for the rest of the week!
Sneezing has also been seen as an omen in many cultures. The Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians viewed a sneeze as an oracle which could warn of danger and foretell if good or evil was in the future. If a person sneezed to the right, then it was an omen of good fortune, to the left it was an unlucky omen.
The Romans viewed sneezing as a way to rid the body of evil spirits. When a person sneezed, those around the person would exclaim “Good luck to you.”
Humans are not the only mammals that sneeze. According to Welsh traditions, a cat’s sneeze is the prediction of a cold summer and snow in the winter.
Note: In etymologies, the * indicates that the Proto-Indo-European or prehistoric word has been reconstructed by historical linguists.