First used in 1944, referring to the airshaft on submarines. Comes from German Schnorchel, "nose, snout," related to schnarchen "to snore" . The spelling "snorkel" is first recorded in 1949, although the meaning "curved tube used by a swimmer to breathe under water" is first recorded 1951.

Snorkel is not a German word, therefore; it has no meaning in German.

In English, a snorkel is a tube that swimmers/divers use to breathe underwater. It's part of their diving masks. The English verb to snorkel is the actual act of swimming/diving with the snorkel.

To say snorkel in German, the verb is schnorcheln, and the noun is der Schnorchel.