wether
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: weþer
English
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈwɛðɚ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈwɛðə/
- Rhymes: -ɛðə(ɹ)
- Homophones: weather; whether (wine–whine merger)
Etymology 1
From Middle English wether, wethir, wedyr, from Old English weþer (“a wether, ram”), from Proto-West Germanic *weþru, from Proto-Germanic *weþruz (“wether”), from Proto-Indo-European *wet- (“year”).
Cognates
Alternative forms
- wedder (dialectal)
Noun
wether (plural wethers)
- A castrated goat.
- A castrated ram.
- c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 179, column 1:
- I am a tainted Weather of the flocke, / Meeteſt for death, the weakeſt kinde of fruite
Derived terms
Translations
castrated goat
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castrated ram
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb
wether (third-person singular simple present wethers, present participle wethering, simple past and past participle wethered)
- (transitive) To castrate a male sheep or goat.
Translations
Etymology 2
Noun
wether
Anagrams
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