Etymologically
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sheep

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈʃiːp/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English schep, inherited from Old English sċēap (“sheep”), also sċēp, sċǣp,[2][3][4] from Proto-West Germanic *skāp,[3][5] source also of Old Saxon scāp, Dutch schaap and German Schaf.[3][6] The word is not found in Gothic or Scandinavian, and no cognates are known outside Germanic.[2][5] The old Indo-European word for the animal survives in ewe.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The animal: about 825 in the OED, before 830 in Barnhart.[7][2]

Semantic evolution

The plural was made the same as the singular in Old English, though Northumbrian had scipo.[3] Since Old English the sheep has been a type of timidity and, figuratively, of those under God's care.[3] A stupid or timid person, or one easily led, is from the 1540s,[3][8] and to separate the sheep from the goats comes from Matthew 25.[3][8] The wolf in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7) is already in Old English,[3] and counting sheep to fall asleep is recorded from 1854.[3] Sheepish meant sheeplike before 1200 and bashful from 1693.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 825 – the animal.[7]
  • 1540s – a timid or stupid person.[3]
  • 1693 – sheepish, bashful.[2]
  • 1854 – counting sheep.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A domesticated ruminant with a thick woolly coat, kept for its wool, meat and milk.
  2. A person who is easily led or timid.
  3. (sheep) People under the spiritual care of a pastor; a congregation.

Word family

  • sheepless
  • sheeplike

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press