Snipe
Middle English: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare with Icelandic mýrisnípa ; obscurely related to Dutch snip and German Schnepfe .
wiktionary
From Middle English snipe, snype(a type of bird), from Old Norse snípa, as in mýrisnípa(“moor snipe”). Akin to Norwegian snipe.
The verb originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India where a hunter skilled enough to kill the elusive snipe was dubbed a "sniper". [1] The term sniper was first attested in 1824 in the sense of the word "sharpshooter". [1]
Probably from snip or a cognate
Either from sneap or a figurative development from Etymology 1
etymonline
snipe (n.)
long-billed marsh bird, early 14c., from Old Norse -snipa in myrisnipa "moor snipe;" perhaps a common Germanic term (compare Old Saxon sneppa, Middle Dutch snippe, Dutch snip, Old High German snepfa, German Schnepfe "snipe," Swedish snäppa "sandpiper"), perhaps originally "snipper." The Old English name was snite, which is of uncertain derivation. An opprobrious term (see guttersnipe) since c. 1600.
snipe (v.)
"shoot from a hidden place," 1773 (among British soldiers in India), in reference to hunting snipe as game, from snipe (n.). Figurative use from 1892. Related: Sniped; sniping.
