Etymology

theave

T1H4E1A1V4E1

Today it means: A ewe lamb of a specific age; in some areas, applied to lambs in their the first or second year (before they have had lambs themselves), in others to lambs in their third year, before their second shearing. Full definition →

Middle English theve ← Old English *þeofu ← Proto-West Germanic *þebu
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*þebu
  2. Old English · inherited from*þeofu
  3. Middle English · inherited fromtheve“young ewe”
  4. English todaytheave

Inherited from Middle English theve (“young ewe”), from Old English *þeofu, from Proto-West Germanic *þebu.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishtheve all →

feaberry

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.