AboutTed Nesbitt Expertise I have an interest in the meanings of words and phrases, as well as how and when they became part of the English language. I enjoy
researching idioms, colloquialisms, dialects, and obscurities of
all kinds. I prefer short questions on a particular subject, and
I will not accept lengthy research projects or term papers. NOTE: ALLEXPERTS CLAIMS THAT I TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN AND FROM LATIN TO ENGLISH. I DO NOT. ALLEXPERTS REFUSES TO DELETE THE LATIN-TO-ENGLISH SERVICE -- ONE THAT I DO NOT PROVIDE.
TRUST ME ON THIS: ALLEXPERTS IS WRONG. I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LANGUAGE. LOOK FOR A LANGUAGE EXPERT INSTEAD. ETYMOLOGY AND TRANSLATING SERVICES ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. ALLEXPERTS SHOULD KNOW THAT. ALLEXPERTS DOES NOT KNOW THAT. I HAVE TRIED FOR MANY YEARS TO GET THEM TO CHANGE. THEY WILL NOT. SORRY, BUT I DO NOT TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO LATIN.
Experience I am the bibliographic instruction and reference librarian at a public
college. My master's thesis concerns William Faulkner's tragic novels. I formerly taught advanced placement English at two schools in the Philadelphia area.
I have been a member of the grammar and writing section of Allexperts
for more than a year.
Education/Credentials Masters degrees in English, philosophy, and library science.
The English word "ewe," a female sheep, can be traced back to several ancient languages, most notably Latin, where it is derived from "ovis," meaning "sheep."
When it was first used in English, it was in the old English form, with variant spellings. The Oxford English Dictionary [OED], a passage from which I am inserting below, recognizes its first WRITTEN appearance about the year 700, and it was spelled "eowu."
The entire entry from the OED is quite lengthy, so I am giving you only the earliest mentions of the word, so you can note the changes in its spelling. Also note that is was not until 1841 that the word is first mentioned as "ewes."
From the OED:
[Com. Teut. and Aryan: OE. eowu (? éowu), corresp. to OFris. ei (MDu. oie, eie, Du. ooi), OHG. ouwi, au, ou (MHG. awe, ou, mod.HG. dial. au- in aulamm ewe-lamb), ON. ær:OTeut. *awi-z:OAryan *owi-s; cf. L. ovi-s, Gr. (), OIr. oi, OSl. ov-ca, Lith. avì-s, Skr. avi.
1. A female sheep.
a700 Laws of Ine lv, Eowu bi, mid hire eonge sceape scilling weor. c1000 ÆLFRIC Gen. xxxiii. 13 Ic hæbbe.. eeane eowa and ecelfe cy mid me. a1100 in Cod. Dipl. IV. 307 To eastran two ewe mid twam lamban. a1240 Cuckoo Song in Ritson Anc. Songs 3 Sumer is icumen in..Awe blete after lomb. a1300 Debate Soul & Body in Map's Poems (Camd.) 335, I scholde have ben dumb as a schep, or as a nouwe. 1393 LANGL. P. Pl. C. XVIII. 21 (MS. T.) By meris mylk lyuede & Ewis. 1465 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (1841) 296 For a ram and xix ewes, pryse the pece, xx.d. 1599 Broughton's Lett. ii. 8 It is a poore flocke of sheepe where the Ew must beare the bell. 1667 MILTON P.L. XI. 649 Ewes and thir bleating Lambs. 1728 RAMSAY Gentle Sheph. II. iv, When..I to milk the ewes first tried my skill. 1842 J. BISCHOFF Woollen Manuf. II. 293 They seldom mistake the ewe to which each lambkin belongs.
