sheep
nounEtymology
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”).
Definitions
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.
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.
›+ 4 more definitionsshow fewer
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
A person who is easily understood by a speech recognition system; contrasted with goat.
plural of shoop
The neighborhood
- synonymOvis
- synonymsheep
- neighborAries
- neighborewe
- neighborhogg
- neighborlamb
- neighbormutton
- neighborovine
- neighborram
- neighborteg
- neighbortup
- neighborwether
- neighborcoward
- neighborshy person
Derived
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 · +73 more
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at sheep. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at sheep. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
8 hops · closes at sheep
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA