wether

[weth -er]

noun

a castrated male sheep.

Also called wether wool. wool from previously shorn sheep.

Origin of wether

before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Old Saxon withar, Old High German widar, Old Norse vethr, Gothic withrus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for wether

Historical Examples of wether

Hark, I hear the piping of the shepherd and the tinkling bell of the wether.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani
Choose a fine-grained leg of wether mutton, of twelve or fourteen pounds weight; cut it ham shape, and let it hang two days.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
Some of the lands will carry an ox and a wether per acre; rents, 15s.
A Tour in Ireland
Arthur Young
It is said that a Lincoln wether has attained the weight of 304½ lbs.
The Stock-Feeder's Manual
Charles Alexander Cameron
God send us wether to bring her in this dangerous tyme of the yeare.
Diary of Richard Cocks Vol. I
Richard Cocks

British Dictionary definitions for wether

wether

noun

a male sheep, esp a castrated one

Word Origin for wether

Old English hwæther; related to Old Frisian hweder, Old High German hwedar, Old Norse hvatharr

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

Word Origin and History for wether

Old English weðer "ram," from Proto-Germanic *wethruz (cf. Old Saxon wethar, Old Norse veðr, Old High German widar, German Widder, Gothic wiþrus "lamb"), literally "yearling," from PIE root *wet- "year" (cf. Sanskrit vatsah "calf," Greek etalon "yearling," Latin vitulus "calf," literally "yearling"). Male sheep, especially a castrated one.