sheep

sheep

English

A domestic sheep

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: shēp, IPA^(key): /ʃiːp/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ʃip/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːp

Etymology 1

From Middle English schep, schepe, from Old English 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

• shoop (slang, chiefly humorous)
• sheepe (obsolete)

Noun

sheep (countable and uncountable, plural sheep or (nonstandard, mostly humorous) sheeps)

1. (countable) A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis.
2. (countable, strictly) The domestic Ovies aries, the most well known species of Ovis.
3. (countable) A timid, shy person who is easily led by others.

   Synonyms: lamb, ovine; see also Thesaurus:shy person

4. (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?

5. (uncountable) Sheepskin leather.
6. (countable, speech recognition) A person who is easily understood by a speech recognition system; contrasted with goat.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:sheep

Derived terms

• Barbary sheep
• black sheep
• sheepdog
• sheepfold
• sheepish
• sheeple
• sheepskin
• sheep station
• shoop (chiefly-humorous back-formation)
• wolf in sheep's clothing

 

Descendants

• Tok Pisin: sipsip (reduplication)
  • → Rotokas: sipisipi
• → Abenaki: azib (from "a sheep")
• → Chuukese: siip
• → Coeur d'Alene: sip
• → Quiripi: sheeps

Translations

animal

Abenaki: azib Acehnese: bubiri Afar: idá, marúw Afrikaans: skaap (af) Ainu: ヒチュチ (hicuci) Akkadian: 𒇻 (immeru) Albanian: delme (sq) f, dele (sq) f Amharic: በግ (bäg) Arabic: خَرُوف‎ m (ḵarūf) (both ram and sheep) Egyptian Arabic: خروف‎ m (ḵarūf) Hijazi Arabic: خاروف‎ m (ḵārūf), غنمة‎ f (ḡanama) (singulative),غنم‎ m (ḡanam) (collective) Iraqi Arabic: غنم‎ m (ḡanam) Moroccan Arabic: غنم‎ m (ḡnam) (collective), خروف‎ m (ḵrūf), خروفة‎ f (ḵrūfa), نعجة‎ f (naʿja), حولي‎ m (ḥawli) South Levantine Arabic: خروف‎ m (ḵarūf), غنم‎ m (ḡanam) (collective) Armenian: ոչխար (hy) (očʿxar) Aromanian: oai (roa-rup) f, oae f Assamese: ভেৰা (bhera), ভেড়া (bhera), ভেৰা ছাগলী (bhera sagoli), ভেড়া ছাগলী (bhera sagoli) Asturian: oveya (ast) f Aymara: iwija (ay) Azerbaijani: qoyun (az) Bactrian: ποσο (poso) Bakhtiari: میش‎ (mēš) Balinese: biri-biri Baluchi: میش‎ (mēš), پس‎ (pas) Bashkir: һарыҡ (harıq) Basque: ardi Bau Bidayuh: koming Belarusian: аве́чка f (avjéčka), аўца́ f (aŭcá) Bengali: ভেড়া (bn) (bheṛa), মেষ (meṣ) Brahui: melle Breton: dañvad (br) m, maout (br) m, dañvadez (br) Bulgarian: овца́ (bg) f (ovcá) Burmese: သိုး (my) (sui:), ဆိတ်ကုလား (my) (hcitku.la:) Buryat: хонин (xonin) Catalan: ovella (ca) f Central Melanau: biri-biri Chechen: уьстагӏ (üstağ) Cherokee: ᎠᏫ ᎤᏃᏕᎾ (awi unodena) Chichewa: nkhosa Chickasaw: chokfi, chokfi ishto' Chinese: Cantonese: 綿羊, 绵羊 (min4 joeng4-2), 羊 (joeng4), 羊咩 (joeng4 me1) Dungan: мянён (mi͡ani͡on), ён (i͡on) Mandarin: 綿羊／绵羊 (zh) (miányáng), 羊 (zh) (yáng) Min Nan: 綿羊 (zh-min-nan), 绵羊 (mî-iûⁿ), 羊 (zh-min-nan) (iûⁿ), 羊仔 (zh-min-nan) (iûⁿ-á) Chiricahua: dibéhé Chuukese: siip Chuvash: сурӑх (surăh) Classical Nahuatl: ichcatl Cornish: davas f Crimean Tatar: qoy Czech: ovce (cs) f Dairi Batak: biri-biri Danish: får (da) n Daur: xonii Dhivehi: please add this translation if you can Dongxiang: ghoni Dutch: schaap (nl) n Dzongkha: ལུག (lug) Edo: óhuán Esperanto: ŝafo (eo) Estonian: lammas (et) Evenki: беру (beru) Ewe: alẽ Faroese: seyður (fo) m Finnish: lammas (fi) French: mouton (fr) m Friulian: piore f, fede f Galician: ovella (gl) f, motóa f, almella f, andosca f Gamilaraay: thimba Gaulish: *multon- Ge'ez: በግዕ (baggə') Georgian: ცხვარი (cxvari) German: Schaf (de) n Gondi: గొర్రె (gorre) Gothic: 𐌻𐌰𐌼𐌱 n (lamb) Greek: πρόβατο (el) n (próvato) Ancient: ὄϊς m or f (óïs), πρόβατον n (próbaton) Greenlandic: sava (kl) Guaraní: ovecha Gujarati: ઘેટું (gu) (gheṭũ) Haitian Creole: mouton Hausa: tunkìyā f Hawaiian: hipa Hebrew: כֶּבֶשׂ‎ (he) m (kéves) Hindi: भेड़ (hi) f (bheṛ), मेष (hi) m (meṣ) (both ram and sheep) Hungarian: juh (hu), birka (hu) Icelandic: sauður (is) m, sauðkind (is) f, kind (is) f, fé (is) n (collective), sauðfé (is) n (collective), ær (is) f (ewe), rolla (is) f Ido: mutono (io) Ifè: àgùɖã̀ Igala: álá, àgwùtọ̀ (obsolete) Igbo: atụlū Inari Sami: savzâ Indonesian: domba (id), biri-biri (id) Ingrian: lammas Ingush: устагӏ (ustağ) Interlingua: ove Irish: caora (ga) f Isekiri: àgútàn Italian: pecora (it) f Izon: ọnị́na Japanese: 羊 (ja) (ひつじ, hitsují), ヒツジ (ja) (hitsuji), 綿羊 (めんよう, men'yō) Jeju: 양 (yang) Jicarilla: dibé Jurchen: honi Kabyle: ikerri m Kalmyk: хөн (hön) Kannada: ಕುರಿ (kn) (kuri) Karelian: lammas Karo Batak: biri-biri Kashmiri: کَٹھ‎ m (kaṭh), گٔب‎ f (gạb) Kashubian: òwca Kazakh: қой (qoi) Khmer: ចៀម (km) (ciəm) Komi-Permyak: please add this translation if you can Korean: 양 (ko) (yang), 면양 (ko) (myeonyang) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: مەڕ‎ (ku) (merr) Northern Kurdish: mî (ku) (ewe), mih (ku) (ewe), beran (ku) (ram), pez (ku) (both), berx (ku) (little), berindir (ku) (young), beyindir (ku) (young) Kyrgyz: кой (ky) (koy) Ladin: biescia Lao: ແກະ (lo) (kæ) Latgalian: vuška f Latin: ovis (la) f Latvian: aita f, avs (lv) f Laz: ჩხური (çxuri) Ligurian: pêgoa f Limburgish: sjaop (li) n Lithuanian: avis (lt) f Livonian: lāmbaz Louisiana Creole French: mouton Low German: Schaap n Luganda: endiga Luhya: likhese, likhese Lusitanian: oilam f Luxembourgish: Schof n Lü: ᦵᦈᧃ (ṫsen) Macedonian: овца f (ovca) Maguindanao: bili-bili Makasar: biri-biri Malagasy: besavily (mg), ondry (mg) Malay: biri-biri, bebiri, kambing biri-biri, kambing bebiri, domba (archaic) Malayalam: ചെമ്മരിയാട് (cemmariyāṭŭ) Maltese: nagħġa f, nagħaġ pl Manchu: ᡥᠣᠨᡳᠨ (honin) Manx: keyrrey f Maore Comorian: ɓariɓari class 5/6 Maori: hipi Maranao: bili-bili Marathi: (please verify) मेंढी (meṇḍhī) Mari: Eastern Mari: шорык (šoryk) Western Mari: шарык (šaryk) Mazanderani: گاسفند‎ (gâsfand), گسن‎ (gəsan) Mbyá Guaraní: ovexa Mi'kmaq: jijgluewj anim Middle English: schep Middle Korean: 야ᇰ (yang) Mingrelian: შხური (šxuri) Mirandese: canhona f, oubeilha f Mon: သဵု (mnw) (sɒ) Mongolian: хонь (mn) (xonʹ) Nahuatl: ichcatl (nah) Nanai: хонин Navajo: dibé Nepali: भेंडा (bheṇḍā) Nias: biri-biri Nigerian Pidgin: sheep Norman: mouton m North Frisian: Föhr: schep n Goesharde, Mooring: schäip n Northern Sami: sávza Norwegian: sau (no) m, får (no) n Nupe: kingbàgbà Occitan: feda (oc) f, oelha (oc) f Ojibwe: maanishtaanish Okinawan: please add this translation if you can Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: овьца f (ovĭca) Glagolitic: ⱁⰲⱐⱌⰰ f (ovĭca) Old East Slavic: овьца f (ovĭca) Old English: scēap n Old Irish: cáera f Olukumi: àgùntàn Oriya: ମେଣ୍ଢା (or) (meṇḍha) Oromo: hoolaa Ossetian: фыс (fys) Ottoman Turkish: قویون‎ (koyun) Pashto: مړېيه‎ m (lṛeyǝ́), مېږ‎ m (meẓ), مږه‎ f (mᶕɀa), پسه‎ (ps) f (pәsᶕ, psᶕ), ګډه‎ f (gǝ́ḍa) Persian: گوسفند‎ (fa) (gusfand), میش‎ (fa) (miš), قوچ‎ (fa) (quč) Plautdietsch: Schop (nds) n Polabian: vicĕ n Polish: owca (pl) f Portuguese: ovelha (pt) f Punic: 𐤔‎ (s) Punjabi: ਭੇਡ (bheḍ) Quechua: uwija Rohingya: sóol Romani: bakro m, bakri f Romanian: oaie (ro) Romansch: nursa, nuorsa f, besch m Russian: овца́ (ru) f (ovcá), ове́чка (ru) f (ovéčka) S'gaw Karen: သိ (thoh) Samoan: mamoe Sango: walitaba (sg) Sanskrit: अवि (sa) m or f (avi), अविक (sa) m (avika) Santali: ᱵᱷᱤᱰᱤ (bhiḍi) Sardinian: brebei, berbeghe, barveghe, chessi, tzicca, erveche, odda (old sheep), argasa (sheep that lost her lamb) Saterland Frisian: Skäip f Scots: sheep Scottish Gaelic: caora f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: овца f, ован m, јагње n (lamb), јање n (Croatian) Roman: ovca (sh) f, ovan (sh) m, jagnje (sh) n (lamb), janje (sh) n (Croatian) Seychellois Creole: mouton Shan: သူဝ်း (shn) (só) Sidamo: gerechcho Simeulue: biri-biri Sindhi: رڍ‎ Sinhalese: බැටළුවා (bæṭaḷuwā) Slovak: ovca (sk) f Slovene: ôvca (sl) f, ôven (sl) m Somali: ido Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: wójca f Upper Sorbian: wowca f Spanish: carnero (es) m, oveja (es) f Sumerian: 𒇻 (UDU) Swahili: kondoo (sw) Swedish: får (sv) n Tagalog: tupa (tl), obeha Tajik: гӯсфанд (tg) (güsfand) Talysh: (please verify) پس‎ (pas) (Asalem dialect) Tamil: செம்மறியாடு (ta) (cemmaṟiyāṭu) Taos: k’úona Tatar: сарык (tt) (sarıq) Telugu: గొర్రె (te) (gorre) Tetum: bibi malae Thai: แกะ (th) (gɛ̀) Tibetan: ལུག (lug) Tigrinya: በጊዕ (bägiʿ) Tocharian B: śaiyye Tok Pisin: sipsip Tongan: sipi Tsakonian: βάννε (vánne) Tsonga: nyimpfu Tswana: nku (9/10) Turkish: koyun (tr) Turkmen: goýun Tuvan: хой (xoy) Ukrainian: вівця́ (uk) f (vivcjá) Urdu: بھیڑ‎ (ur) f (bheṛ), گوسفند‎ f (gosfand), میش‎ m (meṣ) (both ram and sheep) Uyghur: قوي‎ (ug) (qoy) Uzbek: qoʻy (uz), goʻsfand (uz) Venetian: piègora (vec) f, pégora, pigora, piovra, feda (vec) f, féda f Veps: lambaz Vietnamese: cừu (vi) Vilamovian: siöf n Volapük: jip (vo) Voro: lammas Votic: lammõz Walloon: bedot (wa) m, moton (wa) m Welsh: dafad (cy) f, defaid (cy) pl West Frisian: skiep n Western Apache: dibéé, dobéé, dibéłįį, bee’é, mee’é, mę’é Western Panjabi: بھیڈ‎ Wolof: xar mi (wo) Yakut: хой (xoy) Yiddish: שעפּס‎ m (sheps), שאָף‎ m or f (shof) Yoruba: àgùtàn Zazaki: mi, kavır (diq) Zhuang: yiengz Zulu: imvu (zu) class 9/10

one who behaves shyly

Czech: ovčan (cs) m Esperanto: timidulo Finnish: hiirulainen Greek: πρόβατο (el) n (próvato) Hebrew: שֶׂה‎ (he) m (se) Hindi: शर्मीला मनुष्य (śarmīlā manuṣya) Hungarian: birka (hu) Indonesian: pemalu (id) Interlingua: (please verify) persona docile , (please verify) persona submisse Italian: pecora (it) f Lithuanian: avelė (lt) m or f, vatnikas m Persian: بزدل‎ (fa) (bozdel) Polish: trusia (pl) f Portuguese: pusilânime (pt) m or f, ovelha (pt) f Russian: ове́чка (ru) f (ovéčka), ягнёнок (ru) m (jagnjónok), а́гнец (ru) m (ágnec) Scottish Gaelic: caora Spanish: pusilánime (es) m or f, papanatas (es) m or f Telugu: గొర్రె (te) (gorre)

See also

• Appendix:Animals
• Aries
• ewe
• hogg
• lamb
• mutton
• ovine
• ram
• teg
• tup
• wether

Further reading

• sheep on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• sheep on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Ovis on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Noun

sheep

1. (chiefly humorous) plural of shoop

References

1. Vladimir Orel, A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, s.vv. "*keppōn", "*skēpan" (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 213, 340
2. Guus Kroonen (2011), The Proto-Germanic n-stems: a study in diachronic morphophonology , Rodopi, →ISBN.

Anagrams

• Ephes., HEPES, heeps, shepe

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Middle English

Noun

sheep

1. Alternative form of schep

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Scots

Etymology

From Middle English schep, from Old English scēap, from Proto-Germanic *skēpą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʃip]

Noun

sheep (plural sheep)

1. sheep (woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis)

Alternative forms

• schepe, scheep, scheip, schip, schap

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Yola

Noun

sheep

1. 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

• 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