sheep
noun/ˈʃiːp/ · [ˈʃɪi̯p]
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English schep, schepe, from Anglian Old English sċēp (West Saxon sċēap), from Proto-West Germanic *skāp, from Proto-Germanic *skēpą, of unknown origin. Perhaps from the same Scythian word (compare Ossetian цӕу (cæw, “goat”), Persian چپش (čapiš, “yearling goat”)) which was borrowed into Albanian as cjap, sqap (“buck”) and into Slavic (compare Polish cap). After Kroonen, *skēpą is instead from the root of Proto-Germanic *skabaną (“to scratch”) via Kluge's law. Cognates Cognate with Scots sheep (“sheep”), Yola sheep, zheep (“sheep”), North Frisian schep, schäip, Sjip (“sheep”), Saterland Frisian Schäip, Skäip (“sheep”), West Frisian skiep (“sheep”), Alemannic German Schaf, Schooff (“sheep”), Bavarian Schof, Schouf, Schåf (“sheep”), Dutch schaap (“sheep”), German Schaf (“sheep”), German Low German Schaap (“sheep”), Limburgish Schoëp, sjaop (“sheep”), Luxembourgish Schof (“sheep”), Vilamovian siöf (“sheep”), Yiddish שאָף (shof, “sheep”).
7 senses
A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis.
- There is much sad evidence, too, of the spoliation and dereliction of vanished industry: tips, slag-heaps and derelict colliery-screens among which the ubiquitous, nomad mountain sheep graze unconcernedly.1955 July, D. S. Barrie, “Railways of the Bridgend District”, in Railway Magazine, page 449:
A member of the domestic species Ovis aries, the most well-known species of Ovis.
A timid, shy person who is easily led by others.
Christianity A religious adherent, a member of a congregation or religious community (compare flock).
- 1990, Dave Mustaine, "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due", Megadeth, Rust in Peace. And fools like me, who cross the sea and come to foreign lands / Ask the sheep, for their beliefs do you kill on God's command?
Sheepskin leather.
A person who is easily understood by a speech recognition system; contrasted with goat.
Speech recognition
A gullible person.
- Synonyms
- Ovis, sheep
- Derived terms
113 terms
antisheep, Barbary sheep, bighorn sheep, bitesheep, Bizet sheep, black sheep, blue sheep, count sheep, Dall sheep, Dall's sheep, domestic sheep, don't teach your grandmother to steal sheep, fat-rumped sheep, fat-tailed sheep, geep, giraffe sheep, iSheep, Jacob sheep, leaf sheep, lost sheep, Marco Polo sheep, microsheep, mountain sheep, Nairobi sheep disease, nonsheep, one may as well hang for a sheep as a lamb, run sheep run, scabby sheep, separate the sheep from the goats, sheepback, sheep-bell, sheepberry, sheep-biter, sheep-biting, sheepcote, sheep crab, sheep-dip, sheepdog, sheep dog, sheepdom, sheep drowner, sheep-faced, sheep farmer, sheepflesh, sheepfold, sheepfucker, sheep-headed, sheepherder, sheepherding, sheephook, sheephouse, sheep in wolf's clothing, sheepish, sheep ked, sheepkind, sheep laurel, sheeple, sheepless, sheeplet, sheeplike, sheep-like, sheepling, sheep liver fluke, sheep louse, sheepman, sheepmaster, sheep measles, sheepmeat, sheep milk, sheepness, sheepo, sheep polypore, sheeppox, sheep-run, sheepsfoot, sheepshagger, sheep shagger, sheep-shagger, sheepshank, sheepshead, sheepshearer, sheepshearing, sheepshit, sheep-silver, sheepskin, sheep-skin, sheep sorrel, sheep-split, sheep station, sheepstealer, sheepstealing, sheep tick, sheeptrack, sheepwalk, sheepwash, sheepway, sheepy, sheepyard, shepherd, Shepway, Shipley, shoat, shoop, snow sheep, Spanish sheep, Stone sheep, thinhorn sheep, vegetable sheep, watersheep, white sheep, wolf guarding the sheep, wolf in sheep's clothing, Xalda sheep- Hypernyms
- bovid, ruminant, mammal, vertebrate, animal
- Meronyms
- mutton