sheep

Q: What does "sheep" mean?

1. (the animal) a farm animal with a thick coat of wool that we use for clothes and meat. 2. (a follower) a person who always follows what others do and does not think for themselves. 3. (religious followers) the people who belong to a church or religious group.

Q: How do you use "sheep"?

The plural form is identical to the singular form. Often used as a mild insult to describe lack of independence. Usually appears in the plural or as a collective metaphor.

Q: Is it correct to say "I saw three sheeps in the field."?

No — say "I saw three sheep in the field.". The word 'sheep' is the same in both singular and plural forms; do not add an 's'.

Word

01the animal

A1 · Beginner Countable noun

n. a farm animal with a thick coat of wool that we use for clothes and meat.

n. a domesticated ruminant mammal with a thick woolly coat, kept in flocks for its wool, meat, and skin.

“The farmer moved the sheep to a new field with fresh green grass.”

“The shepherd utilised highly trained border collies to gather the sheep from the rugged hillside before the winter storm arrived.”

Usage

The plural form is identical to the singular form.

Pitfall

I saw three sheeps in the field.

I saw three sheep in the field.

The word 'sheep' is the same in both singular and plural forms; do not add an 's'.

Synonyms

eweram lamb

02a follower

B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun Informal · Humorous

n. a person who always follows what others do and does not think for themselves.

n. a person who is easily led, timid, or who unthinkingly follows the opinions or dictates of others.

“Don't be a sheep and just buy that phone because everyone else has one.”

“The political commentator criticised the voters as sheep, claiming they were merely echoing slogans without investigating the actual policy implications.”

Usage

Often used as a mild insult to describe lack of independence.

Synonyms

followerconformist

Antonyms

rebelindividualist

03religious followers

C1 · Advanced Plural noun Religion Literary

n. the people who belong to a church or religious group.

n. the members of a religious congregation, viewed in relation to their leader or 'shepherd'.

“The priest spoke kindly to his sheep during the Sunday morning service.”

“The bishop viewed the spiritual welfare of his sheep as his primary responsibility, visiting even the most remote parishes annually.”

Usage

Usually appears in the plural or as a collective metaphor.

Synonyms

flock congregation

Inherited from Middle English schep, schepe, from Anglian Old English sċēp (West Saxon sċēap), from Proto-West Germanic skāp, from Proto-Germanic skēpą, of unknown origin. Perhaps from the same Scythian word (compare Ossetian цӕу (cæw, “goat”), Persian چپش (čapiš, “yearling goat”)) which was borrowed into Albanian as cjap, sqap (“buck”) and into Slavic (compare Polish cap). After Kroonen, skēpą is instead from the root of Proto-Germanic skabaną (“to scratch”) via Kluge's law. Cognates Cognate with Scots sheep (“sheep”), Yola sheep, zheep (“sheep”), North Frisian schep, schäip, Sjip (“sheep”), Saterland Frisian Schäip, Skäip (“sheep”), West Frisian skiep (“sheep”), Alemannic German Schaf, Schooff (“sheep”), Bavarian Schof, Schouf, Schåf (“sheep”), Dutch schaap (“sheep”), German Schaf (“sheep”), German Low German Schaap (“sheep”), Limburgish Schoëp, sjaop (“sheep”), Luxembourgish Schof (“sheep”), Vilamovian siöf (“sheep”), Yiddish שאָף (shof, “sheep”).

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Aries Coward hogg Lamb mutton RAM shepherd wether