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• ewe
  ewe

  noun

  a female sheep, especially when fully mature.
• Ewe
  Ewe

  noun

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

ewe

¹ American  

[yoo, yoh] / ju, joʊ /

noun

ewes plural

1. a female sheep, especially when fully mature.

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Ewe ² American  

[ey-vey, ey-wey] / ˈeɪ veɪ, ˈeɪ weɪ /

noun

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

2. the Kwa language spoken by the Ewe people.

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ewe ¹ British  

/ juː /

noun

1. 1. a female sheep

   2. ( as modifier )

      a ewe lamb

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Ewe ² British  

/ ˈɛwɛ /

noun

1. 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ewes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ewe

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

Explanation

At last, a word that means only one thing. A ewe is a female sheep. That is what a ewe is. Most people have precious few opportunities to use the word ewe. For most of us, it's most valuable as a three-letter word for crossword puzzles. For example: 1-down: a three-letter word meaning female sheep. Answer? Ewe! Also, if you're an avid Scrabble player, ewe is a good word to keep up your sleeve. That "W" can rake in some serious points if you put it on a triple-word space. Finally, punster's will enjoy using ewe in a sentence like “you and I will go see the ewe and him” — which has the two of us going to see some guy and his female sheep.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ewe Ewe ewes

The birth comes after five lambs were born to one ewe at a farm on the Swinton Estate, near Masham, last month.

From BBC ● May 8, 2026

At the opposite extreme is Scotland's Soay sheep, with just 0.6% full siblings because each ewe mates with multiple rams.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 22, 2026

Having grown up in a family of self-sufficient farmers, Ben was no stranger to being knee deep in manure, or helping his father birth a rotting lamb from inside an ewe.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2025

The embryos were later implanted in a ewe, resulting in a pure Marco Polo argali sheep that Schubert named “Montana Mountain King,” the documents show.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2024

Einar had shrugged, patted the rump of the nursing ewe, and reached for his sticks to hobble away.

From "Son" by Lois Lowry

Ewe bend: It looks like a sheep in the distance spotted Sally Williams taking this photo on the school run to Staffin in Skye.

From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2024

She also volunteers at The Lucky Ewe farm, a charity based in north east Fife which helps people with additional support needs experience farming, animal husbandry and food production.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2022

His father was a Scottish businessman, and his mother was from Ghana’s Ewe ethnic group.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 12, 2020

One Embraceable Ewe, Jenilee Harrison, has been on “CHiPs” and looks enough like Suzanne Somers that maybe she’ll join the cast of “Three’s Company” someday.

From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2019

“The Ewe people finally found a means to escape from the wicked ruler,” Komla recounted.

From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper

That also explains why, and how, his devoted rams, lambs and ewes are able to dedicate themselves to solving his murder.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

The ewes give birth on the U.S. side in the winter and spring, then cross into Mexico to seek water in the punishing summer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2026

This winter - like most years - Mr Abel is missing more than 400 ewes.

From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2025

At the desert lab that day, the wildlife team sampled five bighorn rams and seven ewes.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 29, 2024

Drought years shrank the hide tighter to the bones; ewes dropped weak lambs and cows had no calves in the spring.

From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko