ewe

E1W4E1
US, UK/juː/US, UK/jʊu̯/Wales/ɪʊ̯/Southern US, archaic/joʊ̯/

noun

A female sheep, as opposed to a ram.

Similar
yoweyeoyoeyowEwe language
Less commonScrabble 6

Meanings

ewe1

nounewe (plural ewes)

plural ewes

  1. A female sheep, as opposed to a ram.

    This twentie yeeres haue I bene with thee: thy ewes and thy ſhee goates haue not caſt their yong, and the rammes of thy flocke haue I not eaten.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 31:38, column 2

    Synonyms: yowe, yeo, yoe, yow

Ewe2

nounEwe sg or pl (plural Ewes)

plural Ewes · alternative Eve · alternative Eʋe

  1. pluralsingularAn ethnic group who inhabit southeastern Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

    A person from Ho, like all Ewes, attaches great importance to a friendly greeting.

    2011, Jakob Spieth, “[The HO – Tribe] Economic Life”, in Emmanuel F. Tsaku, Marcellinus Edorh, Raphael Avornyo, Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu, transl., edited by Komla Amoaku, The Ewe People: A Study of the Ewe People in German Togo, Legon, Accra, Ghana: Sub-Saharan Publishers, →ISBN, page 289
    2 more examples

    Most Ewes are farmers or fishermen, although a growing number are urban dwellers living in Accra, Lomé, and other cities. The Ewes are a patrilineal people, with inheritance passing from father to son.

    2002, James Minahan, “Ewes”, in Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: Ethnic and National Groups Around the World, volumes II (D–K), Westport, Conn.; London: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page 590

    Among the Ewes, and equally among other language and ethnic groups in Ghana, names form an integral part of people’s identity.

    2018, Elvis Yevudey, “The representation of African languages and cultures on social media: a case of Ewe in Ghana”, in Augustine Agwuele, Adams Bodomo, editors, The Routledge Handbook of African Linguistics, Routledge, →ISBN, part IV (Language and society: theory and practice)
proper noun

alternative Eve · alternative Eʋe

  1. The Niger-Congo language, belonging to the Gbe family, spoken by these people.
adjectiveEwe (not comparable)

alternative Eve · alternative Eʋe

  1. not comparableOf or pertaining to the Ewe people or language.

EWE3

nounEWE (countable and uncountable, plural EWEs)

plural EWEs

  1. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of extreme wildfire event.
  2. Harry PottercountableslanguncountablelifestyleEpilogue, What Epilogue?; a subgenre of Harry Potter fanfiction which pointedly ignores the epilogue of the final novel.

    Bringing beloved characters back to life is one of the most recurrent elements of EWE fics, […]

    2019, Beatriz Brito do Nascimento, "No heteros in this heterotopia: Harry Potter slash fanfiction as heterotopian space", dissertation submitted to the University of Porto, page 120
    2 more examples

    A collective desire to explore some of the themes Rowling hadn't satisfactorily addressed helped fuel the development of hundreds of “Epilogue, What Epilogue?” (EWE) fanfics following the publication of Deathly Hallows.

    2009, Peggy Lin Duthie, “The Potterverse and the Pulpits: Beyond Apologia and Bannings”, in Giselle Liza Anatol, editor, Reading Harry Potter Again: New Critical Essays, pages 45–46

    'EWE' (Epilogue-What Epilogue?) fics are similar to some AU stories in that they ignore the often-disliked epilogue of Rowling's Deathly Hallows, and instead create their own future of the Wizarding World.

    2015, Amanda K. Allen, “Social Networking, Participatory Culture and the Fandom World of Harry Potter”, in Gail Ashton, editor, Medieval Afterlives in Contemporary Culture, page 280

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA female sheep, as opposed to a ram.

Broader

More synonyms by meaning

nouna Kwa language spoken by the Ewe in Ghana and Togo and Benin

Similar
Ewe language
Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

ewe · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ówis“sheep”
  2. Proto-Germanic*awiz
  3. Proto-West Germanic*awi
  4. Old Englisheowu
  5. Middle Englishewe
  6. Englishewe

From Middle English ewe, from Old English eowu, from Proto-West Germanic *awi, from Proto-Germanic *awiz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ówis (“sheep”). Cognates See also Old English ēow (“sheep”), West Frisian ei, Dutch ooi, German Aue; also Old Irish oí, Latin ovis, Tocharian B ā(ᵤ)w, Lithuanian avi̇̀s (“ewe”), Russian овца́ (ovcá).

Full word history & related roots →

Ewe · noun, proper noun, adjective

  1. EweEʋe
  2. EweEʋe
  3. EnglishEwe

Borrowed from Ewe Eʋe.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans skaapooi
  • skaapooifemale sheep
Ancient Greek ἀμνάς
  • ἀμνάς (amnás)female sheep
Arabic نَعْجَة
  • نَعْجَة (naʕja)female sheep
Bulgarian овца́
  • овца́ (ovcá)female sheep
Catalan ovella
  • ovellafemale sheep
Chinese Cantonese 母羊
  • 母羊female sheep
Chinese Mandarin 母羊, 牂
  • 母羊 (mǔyáng)female sheep
  • 牂 (zāng)female sheep
  • 埃維族 /埃维族 (Āiwéizǔ)ethnic group
  • 埃維人 /埃维人 (Āiwéirén)ethnic group
  • 埃維語 /埃维语 (Āiwéiyǔ)language
  • 埃維人的 /埃维人的 (Āiwéirén de)pertaining to the Ewe people or language
  • 埃維語的 /埃维语的 (Āiwéiyǔ de)pertaining to the Ewe people or language
Czech ovce
  • ovcefemale sheep
Danish moderfår, hunfår
  • moderfårfemale sheep
  • hunfårfemale sheep
  • gimmerlamfemale sheep
Dutch ooi, Ewe
  • ooifemale sheep
  • Eweethnic group
  • Ewelanguage
  • Ewe-pertaining to the Ewe people or language
Esperanto ŝafino
  • ŝafinofemale sheep
Finnish uuhi, lammas
  • uuhifemale sheep
  • lammasfemale sheep
  • ewetethnic group
  • ewelanguage
  • ewe-pertaining to the Ewe people or language
  • ewenkielinenpertaining to the Ewe people or language
French brebis, éwé
  • brebisfemale sheep
  • éwéethnic group
  • Éwéethnic group
  • éwélanguage
  • éouélanguage
German Schaf, weibliches Schaf
  • Schaffemale sheep
  • weibliches Schaffemale sheep
  • Mutterschaffemale sheep
  • Zibbefemale sheep
  • Auefemale sheep
Greek προβατίνα, αρνάδα
  • προβατίνα (provatína)female sheep
  • αρνάδα (arnáda)female sheep
  • αμνάδα (amnáda)female sheep
Hebrew רחל \ רָחֵל
  • רחל \ רָחֵל (rakhél)female sheep
Hindi भेड़
  • भेड़ (bheṛ)female sheep
Hungarian anyajuh
  • anyajuhfemale sheep
Icelandic ær
  • ærfemale sheep
Irish caora, fóisc (yearling)
  • caorafemale sheep
  • fóisc (yearling)female sheep
  • athchaorafemale sheep
  • athfhóiscfemale sheep
  • Éabhaislanguage
Italian pecora
  • pecorafemale sheep
Japanese 牝羊, 雌羊
  • 牝羊 (mehitsuji)female sheep
  • 雌羊 (mehitsuji)female sheep
  • エウェ人 (Ewejin)ethnic group
  • エウェ語 (Ewego)language
Korean 암양
  • 암양 (amyang)female sheep
Latin ovis
  • ovisfemale sheep
Latvian avs
  • avsfemale sheep
Māori uwha hipi, kātua hipi
  • uwha hipifemale sheep
  • kātua hipifemale sheep
Norwegian Bokmål søye
  • søyefemale sheep
Persian میش
  • میش (miš)female sheep
Polish owca
  • owcafemale sheep
Portuguese ovelha
  • ovelhafemale sheep
Romanian oaie, oiță
  • oaiefemale sheep
  • oițăfemale sheep
Russian овца́, я́рка
  • овца́ (ovcá)female sheep
  • я́рка (járka)female sheep
  • эве (eve)language
Slovak ovca
  • ovcafemale sheep
Spanish oveja, oveja madre
  • ovejafemale sheep
  • oveja madrefemale sheep
Swedish tacka, ewe
  • tackafemale sheep
  • ewelanguage
Turkish anaç koyun
  • anaç koyunfemale sheep
Ukrainian вівця́, еве
  • вівця́ (vivcjá)female sheep
  • еве (eve)language
Vietnamese cừu cái
  • cừu cáifemale sheep
Yiddish שאָף, שעפּס
  • שאָף (shof)female sheep
  • שעפּס (sheps)female sheep

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with ewe

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

eauuhewhueHugh (h-dropping)yewyou (not in Wales)yo (Ireland, archaic Southern US)

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

ewe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ewe

MLA

“ewe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ewe. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ewe,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ewe.

Source: ewe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.