Character Analysis: Severus Snape (part one)

First, let's look at his name: Severus Snape.

Severus means "strict, stern, severe".

We can also break the name into two different phrases: the English sever us and the Latin se verus. In the first case, we could see it as a plea. Matter of fact, this lends support to the idea that Dumbledore's words "Severus. Severus... please...." were a hidden message for Severus to kill Dumbledore. Imagine interpreting the words as something like "Severus, sever us, please" or "Sever us... Severus, please." Not that Dumbledore would refer to himself in the plural, more like he knows he must be removed from Harry's side, just as all the references to Dumbledore stopping dead and Harry running into him are symbolic for Dumbledore holding Harry back from fulfilling his "destiny"... for Dumbledore being in the way. This phrase could also be a reference to Severus's apparent dual personality. Harry must figure out what Severus's different roles are... and when Severus is switching roles....

The second phrase is particularly interesting, since se verus means "himself true". This goes well with the French version of his name: Severus Rogue. Rogues don't really follow rules, and they generally look out for #1, themselves. The quintessential Slytherin, right? Of course, the meaning of the French word rogue translates best as "arrogant", rather than how we generally define rogue. Dictionary.com gives us a very extensive English definition:

"rogue /roʊg/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[rohg] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, rogued, ro·guing, adjective
–noun
1. a dishonest, knavish person; scoundrel.
2. a playfully mischievous person; scamp: The youngest boys are little rogues.
3. a tramp or vagabond.
4. a rogue elephant or other animal of similar disposition.
5. Biology. a usually inferior organism, esp. a plant, varying markedly from the normal. –verb (used without object)
6. to live or act as a rogue. –verb (used with object)
7. to cheat.
8. to uproot or destroy (plants, etc., that do not conform to a desired standard).
9. to perform this operation upon: to rogue a field. –adjective
10. (of an animal) having an abnormally savage or unpredictable disposition, as a rogue elephant.
11. no longer obedient, belonging, or accepted and hence not controllable or answerable; deviating, renegade: a rogue cop; a rogue union local.
[Origin: 1555–65; appar. short for obs. roger begging vagabond, orig. cant word]
—Synonyms 1. villain, trickster, swindler, cheat, mountebank, quack. See knave."

The Online Etymology Dictionary has this to add:

"rogue 1561, "idle vagrant," perhaps a shortened form of roger (with a hard -g-), thieves' slang for a begging vagabond who pretends to be a poor scholar from Oxford or Cambridge, perhaps from L. rogare "to ask." Another theory traces it to Celtic (cf. Bret. rog "haughty"); OED says, "There is no evidence of connexion with F. rogue 'arrogant.' " Rogue's gallery "police collection of mug shots" is attested from 1859."

Then there is the last name, Snape. There are several meanings of Snape and other words that are related to it:

1. Snape - English and Scottish: habitational name from any of various places in England and southern Scotland, for example in North Yorkshire near Bedale, in the Lowlands near Biggar, and in Suffolk, so named with Old English snæp ‘area of boggy land’. In Sussex the dialect term snape is still used of boggy, uncultivable land.


2. Snape \Snape\, v. t. (Shipbuilding)
   To bevel the end of a timber to fit against an inclined
   surface.


3. related to snipe
   n : Old or New World straight-billed game bird of the sandpiper
   family; of marshy areas; similar to the woodcocks
   v 1: hunt snipe
   2: hunt or shoot snipe
   3: shoot from a concealed position [syn: sharpshoot]
   4: attack verbally, in speech or writing; "The editors of the
   left-leaning paper attacked the new House Speaker" [syn: attack,
   round, assail, lash out, assault]


4. related to Sneap \Sneap\, v. t. [Cf. Icel. sneypa to dishonor, disgrace,
   chide, but also E. snip, and snub.]
   1. To check; to reprimand; to rebuke; to chide. [Obs.] --Bp.
   Hall.
   2. To nip; to blast; to blight. [Obs.]
   Sneap \Sneap\, n.
   A reprimand; a rebuke. [Obs.]


5. related to snap
   n 1: the act of catching an object with the hands;
   2: any activity that is easy to do; "marketing this product
   will be no picnic"
   3: (football) putting the ball in play by passing it (between
   the legs) to a back [syn: centering]
   v 1: utter in an angry, sharp, or abrupt tone; `"No!," she
   snapped'; "The guard snarled at us" [syn: snarl]
   2: separate or cause to separate abruptly; "The rope snapped";
   "tear the paper" [syn: tear, rupture, bust]
   3: break suddenly and abruptly; as of something under tension;
   4: move or strike with a click;
   5: snap close with a sound;
   6: as of tightly stretched ropes or fingers [syn: crack]
   7: move with a snapping sound;
   8: to grasp hastily or eagerly;
   9: put in play with a snap, of a football
   10: cause to make a snapping sound; of fingers [syn: click, flick]
   11: record on photographic film


6. might make you think of snoop
   n : a spy who makes uninvited inquiries into the private affairs
   of others [syn: snooper]
   v : watch, observe, or inquire secretly [syn: spy, stag, sleuth]

Other language versions of the novels use translation, transliteration, or simply give him a new name. Most play up his cruel behavior or make references to snakes, marshy or boggy land or other water features. I'll probably make a separate post to discuss the names given to him in other languages, besides French.

More about his character later....