Soay
Britishnoun
Etymology
Origin of Soay
named after Soay, an island in the St Kilda group, where they were first found
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
In last place is Scotland's Soay sheep, where females mate with multiple males, with 0.6% full siblings.
From BBC • Dec. 10, 2025
Prof Josephine Pemberton, who ran the St Kilda Soay Sheep Project for many years, said intervention could lead to the population becoming less resilient to disease and parasites.
From BBC • Sep. 29, 2025
The couple raise a conservation flock of British Soay sheep whose wool they pluck rather than sheer, and sell to a local fiber artist.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 5, 2021
“The Romans developed the woolly sheep that we have now, and they’re a very artificial type of sheep. But the Soay sheep are very much the same as they would have been in pre-Roman times.”
From New York Times • Aug. 20, 2020
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
