sheep
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: shēp
ipa: /ʃiːp/
ipa: /ʃip/
rhymes: -iːp
Forms: form: sheep
form: sheeps
form: shoop
form: sheepe
Etymology: 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”).
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 1955 July, D. S. Barrie, “Railways of the Bridgend District”, in Railway Magazine, page 449:
glosses: A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis.
qualifier: strictly
glosses: A member of the domestic species Ovis aries, the most well-known species of Ovis.
synonyms: word: lamb
word: ovine
word: introvert
word: mouse
word: recluse
word: shybie
word: wallflower
word: shrinking violet
glosses: A timid, shy person who is easily led by others.
examples: text: 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?
topics: Christianity
glosses: A religious adherent, a member of a congregation or religious community (compare flock).
glosses: Sheepskin leather.
qualifier: speech recognition
glosses: A person who is easily understood by a speech recognition system; contrasted with goat.
Synonyms: word: Ovis
word: sheep
Hypernyms: word: bovid
word: ruminant
word: mammal
word: vertebrate
word: animal
Hyponyms: word: bellwether
word: chilver
word: ewe
word: hoggerel
word: hogget
word: lamb
word: ram
word: teg
word: wether
word: yeanling
Meronyms: word: mutton
Derived terms: word: antisheep
word: Barbary sheep
word: bighorn sheep
word: bitesheep
word: Bizet sheep
word: black sheep
word: blue sheep
word: count sheep
word: Dall sheep
word: Dall's sheep
word: domestic sheep
word: don't teach your grandmother to steal sheep
word: fat-rumped sheep
word: fat-tailed sheep
word: geep
word: giraffe sheep
word: iSheep
word: leaf sheep
word: lost sheep
word: Marco Polo sheep
word: mountain sheep
word: Nairobi sheep disease
word: nonsheep
word: one may as well hang for a sheep as a lamb
word: run sheep run
word: scabby sheep
word: separate the sheep from the goats
word: sheepback
word: sheep-bell
word: sheepberry
word: sheep-biter
word: sheep-biting
word: sheepcote
word: sheep crab
word: sheep-dip
word: sheepdog
word: sheep dog
word: sheepdom
word: sheep-faced
word: sheep farmer
word: sheepflesh
word: sheepfold
word: sheepfucker
word: sheep-headed
word: sheepherder
word: sheepherding
word: sheephook
word: sheep in wolf's clothing
word: sheepish
word: sheep ked
word: sheep laurel
word: sheeple
word: sheepless
word: sheeplet
word: sheeplike
word: sheep-like
word: sheepling
word: sheep liver fluke
word: sheep louse
word: sheepman
word: sheepmaster
word: sheep measles
word: sheepmeat
word: sheep milk
word: sheepness
word: sheepo
word: sheep polypore
word: sheeppox
word: sheep-run
word: sheepsfoot
word: sheep-shagger
word: sheepshagger
word: sheep shagger
word: sheepshank
word: sheepshead
word: sheepshearer
word: sheepshearing
word: sheepshit
word: sheep-silver
word: sheepskin
word: sheep-skin
word: sheep sorrel
word: sheep-split
word: sheep station
word: sheepstealer
word: sheepstealing
word: sheep tick
word: sheeptrack
word: sheepwalk
word: sheepwash
word: sheepway
word: sheepy
word: shepherd
word: Shepway
word: Shipley
word: shoat
word: shoop
word: snow sheep
word: Spanish sheep
word: Stone sheep
word: thinhorn sheep
word: vegetable sheep
word: watersheep
word: white sheep
word: wolf guarding the sheep
word: wolf in sheep's clothing
word: Xalda sheep
Related terms: word: Aries
word: ewe
word: hogg
word: lamb
word: mutton
word: ovine
word: ram
word: teg
word: tup
word: wether
word: coward
word: shy person