schipperke

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English[edit]

A schipperke

Etymology[edit]

From Belgian Dutch (Flemish), but unclear at the word level.

  • Conventionally taken to be schipper (“skipper”) +‎ -ke (“diminutive suffix”), allegedly alluding to a role as watchdog and/or rodent catcher on canal boats.[1]
  • Alternatively, a mutation of scheperke, a diminutive of scheper (“shepherd, sheepdog”), referring to the breed's purported descent from an extinct larger breed of sheepdogs.

Related to the etymological debate is a longstanding informal one about whether the dog itself should be regarded as a spitz or a miniature sheepdog.

For more, see Schipperke § History on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Noun[edit]

schipperke (plural schipperkes)

  1. (zoology) A small breed of dog developed in Belgium, sometimes used as a watchdog on boats.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "schipperke", entry on Merriam-Webster (online)

Further reading[edit]

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