Shiels

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A simple stone or turf hut where shepherds stayed with their flocks on remote hill pastures ; in Scots dialect, to protect or screen someone from harm
2. A basic shelter built of stone or turf for herders in the highlands ; a Scottish verb meaning to shield or give cover from weather or danger
3. Rough mountain huts occupied by herdsmen during summer grazing ; a dialect verb in Scotland for sheltering or guarding something from harm

Etymology: "Shiels" is the plural of "shiel," a word for a simple stone hut used by herders, most often in the Scottish Highlands and Borders, where people moved livestock up to high summer pastures. The singular comes from Middle English "schele," and it belongs to a family of Germanic words for shelter: Old Norse "skjól" meant shelter, and Old Frisian "skiāle" meant stable or shed. The same root is behind the Scots and northern English word "sheal," a close variant with the same sense. The connection to "shelter" is the key to the word's history. A shiel was never a grand building. It was a shelter for people and animals during the seasonal move to higher grazing, so the name describes its function rather than its construction. Seen this way, the word connects a rough Highland hut to the same old Germanic idea that gave a stable or shed its name in neighbouring languages.

Synonyms: shieling, bothy, hut