Shelty

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A small, long-haired herding dog breed from the Shetland Islands ; a sturdy, small pony breed originating in the Shetland Islands of Scotland
2. A compact, shaggy-coated sheepdog developed in Shetland ; a hardy miniature horse breed from the same Scottish islands
3. A small, fluffy working dog resembling a collie in miniature ; a diminutive, tough pony native to the Shetland Isles

Etymology: The shelty, or sheltie, is a small herding dog whose name points to the Shetland Islands, off the north coast of Scotland. The likely link is Old Norse "Hjalti", a word meaning a Shetlander, since the islands were settled by Norse speakers and their inhabitants were long known by that name. The dogs were named for the place they came from, much as a Pomeranian takes its name from a region of Germany and Poland. The connection is a probable one rather than a certainty. The "probably" in the source reflects that the name's exact route from a Norse personal or ethnic term into the English dog name is not fully documented, so the chain is best read as a plausible origin rather than a proven one. What is clear is that the name ties the breed to the islands and to the Norse heritage that shaped them.

Synonyms: sheltie, Shetland pony