wether

C2+ Topic:Animals

US /ˈwɛð.ɚ/ UK /ˈweð.ə/ See IPA manual

Homophones

weather /ˈwɛð.ɚ/ whether /ˈwɛðə(ɹ)/

Meanings

1

noun
a castrated male sheep

The farmer kept one wether to lead the flock to pasture.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a castrated male sheep sheep ram

Etymology

From Middle English wether, from Old English weþer ('ram, castrated ram'), from Proto-Germanic *weþruz ('yearling, ram'), from Proto-Indo-European *wet- ('year'). Cognate with German Widder.

weþer Old English *weþruz Proto-Germanic *wet- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Animals Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# wether

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈwɛð.ɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈweð.ə/

## Meanings
1. a castrated male sheep

## Examples
- The farmer kept one wether to lead the flock to pasture.

## Synonyms
- sheep
- ram

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: weþer
- Root: *weþruz
- Root: *wet-

## Etymology
From Middle English wether, from Old English weþer ('ram, castrated ram'), from Proto-Germanic *weþruz ('yearling, ram'), from Proto-Indo-European *wet- ('year'). Cognate with German Widder.

## AI Etymology
Wether comes from Middle English wether, from Old English weþer ('ram, castrated ram'), from Proto-Germanic *weþruz ('yearling, ram'), from Proto-Indo-European *wet- ('year'). Cognate with German Widder. In current use it is a noun meaning "a castrated male sheep". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The history is mainly one of transmission into English, with the older form and sense carried through borrowing or adaptation. The historical chain includes Old English weþer, Proto-Germanic *weþruz, and Proto-Indo-European *wet-. For dictionary purposes, the important point is the continuity between the older form, the route into English, and the present lexical sense.

## Topics
- Animals
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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