Shetland

See also: shetland

English

Alternative forms

• Zetland

Etymology

From Scots Shetland, Middle Scots Ȝetland, from Old Norse Hjaltland, by surface analysis, hjalt (“hilt”) +‎ land (“land”). Andrew Jennings suggests the name derives from the tribal name Calēdonēs (as in Caledonia), considering the geographer Ptolemy already called the sea north of Scotland ὠκεανός Δουηκαλεδονίος (ōkeanós Douēkaledoníos); if this is correct, the borrowing into Germanic would need to have occurred at such an early date that it took part in the Germanic sound-shift, changing *kalid- to *halit-, after which it underwent folk etymological reshaping to Old Norse hjalt (“hilt”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃɛtlənd/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Proper noun

Shetland

2. Ellipsis of the Shetland Islands, an archipelago and council area of Scotland.
3. A historical county of Scotland.

Derived terms

• Shetlander
• Shetland pony

Translations

Shetland Islands — see Shetland Islands

Noun

Shetland (countable and uncountable, plural Shetlands)

1. (uncountable) A particular breed of pony.
2. (countable) A pony of this breed.
3. (uncountable) A particular breed of sheep.
4. (countable) A sheep of this breed.
5. (uncountable) Alternative letter-case form of shetland: light, loose wool fabric.
   • 1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 17:

     […] I'll tell you what else is a fact. It's a fact that he is wearing his blue Shetland turtle-neck today. Even as we speak his body is moving inside it. Warm and quick. It's more than flesh and blood can stand.

Synonyms

• (breed of pony): Shetland pony (more common)
• (pony): Shetland pony (more common)

References

Jennings, Andrew: The etymology of the name Shetland: an examination of possibilities

Anagrams

• handlest

Dutch

Etymology

From English Shetland.

Proper noun

Shetland n

1. Shetland, Shetland Islands (an archipelago and council area of Scotland, roughly north-east of the Orkney Islands; the northernmost part of Scotland and the United Kingdom)

   Synonyms: Shetlandeilanden, (obsolete) Hitland

Derived terms

• Shetlandeilanden
• Shetlander, shetlander
• shetlandpony
• Shetlands

Further reading

• Shetland on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

Norwegian Bokmål

Proper noun

Shetland

1. Shetland, Shetland Islands (an archipelago and council area of Scotland, roughly north-east of the Orkney Islands; the northernmost part of Scotland and the United Kingdom)

Synonyms

• Shetlandsøyene

Derived terms

• shetlandsponni

Related terms

• shetlandsk
• shetlender, shetlending

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• Sjetland (alternative spelling)

Etymology

Borrowed from English Shetland, from Scots Shetland, from Middle Scots Ȝetland, from Old Norse Hjaltland. Doublet of Hjaltland.

Proper noun

Shetland

1. Shetland, Shetland Islands (an archipelago and council area of Scotland, roughly north-east of the Orkney Islands; the northernmost part of Scotland and the United Kingdom)

Synonyms

• Shetlandsøyane

Derived terms

• shetlandsponni

Related terms

• shetlandsk
• shetlendar, shetlending

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃetʎent]

Proper noun

Shetland

1. genitive of Shetlandy

Swedish

Proper noun

Shetland n (genitive Shetlands)

1. ellipsis of Shetlandsöarna, an archipelago and council area of Scotland: Shetland