Wether

Pronunciation

• GenAm IPA: /ˈwɛðɚ/
• RP IPA: /ˈwɛðə/
• Rhymes: -ɛðə(ɹ)
• Homophones: weather, whether in accents with the wine-whine merger

Alternative forms

• wedder dialectal

Origin

From Middle English wether, wethir, wedyr, from Old English weþer ("a wether, ram"), from Proto-Germanic *weþruz ("wether"), from Proto-Indo-European *wet- ("year"). Cognate with Scots weddir, woddir, wadder ("wether"), Dutch weder, weer ("wether"), German Widder ("wether, ram"), Swedish vädur ("wether, ram"), Icelandic veður ("wether, ram"), Latin vitulus ("calf").

Full definition of wether

Noun

1. A castrated buck goat.
2. A castrated ram.
3. Archaic spelling of weather
• 1527, George Joye, The storie of my state after the bishop had receyued the pryours letters Chapter , There was a great fyer in the chamber, the wether was colde, and I saw now and then a Bishop come out; (cited after Samuel Roffey Maitland, 1866, p. 8)

Derived terms

• bellwether

Verb

1. (transitive) To castrate a male sheep or goat.