Sheepcots

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Small enclosures or simple shelters built to house sheep, often in fields or on hillsides, where the animals can be kept safe
2. Modest farm structures used as pens or shelters for flocks of sheep, providing protection from weather and predators
3. Rustic buildings or sheltered pens in which sheep are kept, typically found across pastoral farmland and grazing country

Etymology: "Sheepcots" is simply the plural of "sheepcot," a noun for a small shelter or pen where sheep are kept. The plural follows the regular English pattern of adding "-s" to the singular, so the word has no history of its own beyond that of its parts. The singular is a compound of "sheep" and "cot," the latter meaning a small dwelling or shelter, a sense that goes back to Old English "cot," a simple cottage or hut.

Synonyms: sheepfold, fold, pen