Etymology

bellwether

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Today it means: The leading sheep of a flock, having a bell hung round its neck. Full definition →

Middle English belwether ← Old English weþer ← Proto-West Germanic *weþru
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-
  2. Proto-Germanic*bellǭ
  3. Proto-West Germanic*bellā
  4. Old Englishbelle
  5. Middle Englishbelle
  6. Proto-Indo-European*wet-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*wétrus
  8. Proto-Germanic*weþruz
  9. Proto-West Germanic*weþru
  10. Old Englishweþer
  11. Middle Englishwether
  12. Middle Englishbelwether
  13. English todaybellwether

From Middle English belwether, belleweder, equivalent to bell + wether (“castrated ram”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.