sheep
English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: shēp, IPA(key): /ʃiːp/
Audio (RP) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ʃip/
Audio (GA) (file) - Rhymes: -iːp
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English schep, schepe, from Anglian Old English sċēp, a variant of sċēap, from Proto-West Germanic *skāp, from Proto-Germanic *skēpą (compare West Frisian skiep, North Frisian schäip, Dutch schaap, German Schaf), beside *keppô (compare Old Norse kjappi (“buck”), dialectal German Kippe (“newborn calf”)), of unknown origin. Perhaps from the same Scythian word (compare Ossetian цӕу (cæw, “goat”), Persian چپش (čapiš, “yearling goat”))[1] 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.[2]
Alternative forms[edit]
Noun[edit]
sheep (countable and uncountable, plural sheep or (nonstandard, mostly humorous) sheeps)
- (countable) A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis.
- (countable, strictly) A member of the domestic species Ovis aries, the most well-known species of Ovis.
- (countable) A timid, shy person who is easily led by others.
- Synonyms: lamb, ovine; see also Thesaurus:shy person
- (countable, chiefly Christianity, chiefly plural) 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?
- 1990, Dave Mustaine, "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due", Megadeth, Rust in Peace.
- (uncountable) Sheepskin leather.
- (countable, speech recognition) A person who is easily understood by a speech recognition system; contrasted with goat.
Synonyms[edit]
- See also Thesaurus:sheep
Derived terms[edit]
- Barbary sheep
- black sheep
- sheepdog
- sheepfold
- sheepish
- sheeple
- sheepskin
- sheep station
- shoop (chiefly-humorous back-formation)
- wolf in sheep's clothing
Descendants[edit]
- Tok Pisin: sipsip (reduplication)
- → Rotokas: sipisipi
- → Abenaki: azib (from "a sheep")
- → Chuukese: siip
- → Coeur d'Alene: sip
- → Quiripi: sheeps
Translations[edit]
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See also[edit]
Further reading[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Noun[edit]
sheep
References[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
Middle English[edit]
Noun[edit]
sheep
- Alternative form of schep
Scots[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English schep, from Old English scēap, from Proto-Germanic *skēpą.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
sheep (plural sheep)
- sheep (woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis)
Alternative forms[edit]
Yola[edit]
Noun[edit]
sheep
- Alternative form of zheep
- 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 9:
- Wourlok'd an anooree, lick lhuskès o' sheep.
- Tumbled on one-another, like flocks of sheep.
References[edit]
- Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 88
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/iːp
- Rhymes:English/iːp/1 syllable
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Scythian languages
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English indeclinable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- en:Christianity
- English terms with quotations
- English non-lemma forms
- English noun forms
- English humorous terms
- en:Sheep
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Scots terms inherited from Middle English
- Scots terms derived from Middle English
- Scots terms inherited from Old English
- Scots terms derived from Old English
- Scots terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Scots terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Scots terms with IPA pronunciation
- Scots lemmas
- Scots nouns
- sco:Sheep
- Yola lemmas
- Yola nouns
- Yola terms with quotations