Blater

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An animal, especially a goat or sheep, that makes bleating sounds
2. A creature that emits the characteristic high-pitched cry of a goat or lamb
3. An animal that produces bleating calls, typically a member of the caprine or ovine family

Etymology: "Blater" is the comparative of "blate," a Scots word meaning timid or sheepish. The adjective was taken into English from Scots, and its meaning came from two Old English and Middle English roots that merged over time. One of them, Old English "blāt," meant pale, livid or ghastly, so its sense of fear comes from the look of someone who has gone white with fright. The other, "blēaþ," described a person who was gentle, shy, or even cowardly and inactive, and it grew from a Germanic root meaning weak or naked. Both strands share a family resemblance with German, where "blassen" means to make pale and "bleich" means pallid. The English words "bleak" and "bleach" come from the same ancestral root, so a Scots word for a shrinking, timid person is distantly related to the pale colours of bleached cloth.

Synonyms: bleater, crier