sheep

Signification

1. A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis.
2. A member of the domestic species Ovis aries, the most well-known species of Ovis.
3. A timid, shy person who is easily led by others.
4. A religious adherent, a member of a congregation or religious community (compare flock).
5. Sheepskin leather.
6. A person who is easily understood by a speech recognition system; contrasted with goat.

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/ʃiːp/

Étymologie

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”)) 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.

Phrases

He had always believed that the sheep were able to understand what he said .

Il avait toujours cru que les moutons étaient capables de comprendre ce qu'il avait dit.