Where does “sheepfold” come from?
Sheepfold comes from Old English sċēap, an animal name, combined with Old English folde, an enclosure, both ultimately descended from Proto-Germanic and Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to fold or enclose.
sheepfold (English): An enclosure for keeping sheep; A flock of sheep
Definitions
- An enclosure for keeping sheep; A flock of sheep
Ancestry of “sheepfold”, step by step
sheepfold traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English sheep
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | sheep | A woolly ruminant of the genus "Ovis"; A timid,... |
| 2 | Middle English | sheep | sheep |
| 3 | Old English | sċēap | sheep |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | skāp | sheep |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | skapą | shape |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | skapjaną | to make, to create; to shape |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | skab- | to cut, split, hew, shape; to cut, split, carve,... |