ewe

[ yoo; Dialect yoh ]

noun
  1. a female sheep, especially when fully mature.

Origin of ewe

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English ēowu, ēwe; cognate with Old High German ou, ouwi, Dutch ooi, Latin ovis, Greek óïs, oîs, Sanskrit ávi

Words that may be confused with ewe

Other definitions for Ewe (2 of 2)

Ewe
[ ey-vey, ey-wey ]

noun
  1. a member of a people of Togo and Ghana, in western Africa.

  2. the Kwa language spoken by the Ewe people.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ewe in a sentence

  • He used only the choicest rams, a little under size, while the ewes were of full medium weight.

    Domestic Animals | Richard L. Allen
  • In hot countries the rams have only two very short horns, and often are deficient of them as well as the ewes.

    Buffon's Natural History. Volume VIII (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
  • If full-grown rams are turned into a lean pasture to remain with the ewes, not less than four should be put in for every hundred.

    Domestic Animals | Richard L. Allen
  • The ewes are more likely to come quickly into heat, and prove prolific, if lightly fed with stimulating food at the time.

    Domestic Animals | Richard L. Allen
  • But a larger number of lambs will be reared by a careful oversight of the ewes, and the use of proper precautions.

    Domestic Animals | Richard L. Allen

British Dictionary definitions for ewe (1 of 2)

ewe

/ (juː) /


noun
    • a female sheep

    • (as modifier): a ewe lamb

Origin of ewe

1
Old English ēowu; related to Old Norse ǣr ewe, Old High German ou, Latin ovis sheep, Sanskrit avi

British Dictionary definitions for Ewe (2 of 2)

Ewe

/ (ˈɛwɛ) /


noun
  1. plural Ewe or Ewes a member of a Negroid people of W Africa living chiefly in the forests of E Ghana, Togo, and Benin

  2. the language of this people, belonging to the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo family

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012