sheep

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English [edit]

A domestic sheep

Etymology [edit]

From Middle English sheep, scheep, schep, schepe, from Old English scēap, from Proto-Germanic *skēpą (compare West Frisian skiep, North Frisian schäip (in the Fering-Öömrang dialect, sjep; in the Sölring dialect, sjip; in the Heligoland dialect, skeap), Dutch schaap, German Schaf), beside *keppôn (compare Old Norse kjappi (he-goat), dialectal German Kippe (newborn calf)), of unknown origin. Perhaps from the same Scythian word (compare Ossetian цæу (cæw, goat), Persian چپش (čapiš, yearling goat))[1] which was borrowed into Albanian as cjap, sqap (he-goat) and into Slavic (compare Polish cap).

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

sheep (plural sheep)

  1. A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis.
  2. A timid, shy person who is easily led by others.
  3. Plural form of shoop

Synonyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

Descendants [edit]

  • Abenaki: azib (from "(a) sheep")

Translations [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Vladimir Orel, A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, s.vv. "*keppōn", "*skēpan" (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 213, 340

See also [edit]

External links [edit]

Anagrams [edit]


Middle English [edit]

Noun [edit]

sheep (plural sheep)

  1. sheep