Ewe

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /juː/

Definitions

1. A female sheep that is often associated with her young offspring and is valued for her wool and milk production
2. The adult form of a female member of the sheep species, typically known for its nurturing behavior towards its lamb
3. An animal commonly kept in farming and pastoral contexts, representing a crucial part of livestock for various agricultural purposes

Etymology: The word "ewe" has one of the more quietly remarkable histories in English: it has changed almost nothing for more than a thousand years. Its Old English ancestor "ēow" meant "sheep" in general, and the modern narrowing to the adult female is a later specialisation. Its sound has shifted only in spelling and pronunciation, from the vowel of "ēow" to the long "oo" we hear today. The word belongs to a wide family spread across the Indo-European languages. Its relatives include Latin "ovis" (sheep), Lithuanian "avis", and Russian "ovcá" (овца), and the same root turns up in Irish "oí" and Dutch "ooi". This means English speakers have been using a form of a word that sheep-herding peoples across Europe and beyond were already using, long before English existed as a language.

Synonyms: female sheep