Meanings
wether1
plural wethers · alternative wedder
- A castrated goat.
- A castrated ram.
I am a tainted Weather of the flocke, / Meeteſt for death, the weakeſt kinde of fruite
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], page 179, column 1
present singular third person wethers · participle present wethering · participle past wethered · past wethered · alternative wedder
- transitiveTo castrate a male sheep or goat.
wether2
- archaicArchaic spelling of weather.
There was a great fyer in the chamber, the wether was colde, and I saw now and then a Bishop come out;
1527, George Joye, The storie of my state after the bishop had receyued the pryours letters
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*wet-“year”
- Proto-Germanic*weþruz“wether”
- Proto-West Germanic*weþru
- Old Englishweþer“a wether, ram”
- Middle Englishwether
- Englishwether
From Middle English wether, wethir, wedyr, from Old English weþer (“a wether, ram”), from Proto-West Germanic *weþru, from Proto-Germanic *weþruz (“wether”), from Proto-Indo-European *wet- (“year”). Cognates Cognate with Scots weddir, woddir, wadder (“wether”), Dutch weder, weer (“wether”), German Widder (“wether, ram”), Norwegian Bokmål vær (“ram”), Norwegian Nynorsk vêr (“ram”), Swedish vädur (“wether, ram”), Icelandic veður (“wether, ram”), Latin vitulus (“calf”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἴξᾰλος
- ἴξᾰλος (íxălos)castrated goat
Bengali খাসী
- খাসী (khaśi)castrated goat
Bulgarian скопен козел, скопен овен
- скопен козел (skopen kozel)castrated goat
- скопен овенcastrated ram
- скопявам (skopjavam)to castrate a male sheep or goat
- скопя (skopja)to castrate a male sheep or goat
Catalan crestat, moltó
- crestatcastrated goat
- moltócastrated ram
Chinese Mandarin 駒驢 /驹驴, 羯羊
- 駒驢 /驹驴 (jūlǘ)castrated goat
- 羯羊 (jiéyáng)castrated goat
Czech hňup, skopec
- hňupcastrated goat
- skopeccastrated ram
Danish bede, bede
- bedecastrated goat
- bedecastrated ram
Dutch weer, hamel
- weercastrated goat
- hamelcastrated ram
Esperanto kastrita virkapro, eksvirkapro
- kastrita virkaprocastrated goat
- eksvirkaprocastrated goat
- kaprukocastrated goat
- kastrita virŝafocastrated ram
- ŝafukocastrated ram
Finnish salvupukki, oinas
- salvupukkicastrated goat
- oinascastrated ram
- kuohitato castrate a male sheep or goat
- salvaato castrate a male sheep or goat
German Mönch, kastrierter Ziegenbock
- Mönchcastrated goat
- kastrierter Ziegenbockcastrated goat
- Hammelcastrated ram
- Schöpscastrated ram
Hungarian ürü
- ürücastrated ram
Irish molt
- moltcastrated ram
Italian montone
- montonecastrated ram
Latin vervex, vervex
- vervexcastrated goat
- vervexcastrated ram
Māori hipi tame raho-poka, wēta
- hipi tame raho-pokacastrated ram
- wētacastrated ram
Polish skop
- skopcastrated ram
Portuguese castrão, carneiro castrado
- castrãocastrated goat
- carneiro castradocastrated ram
Romanian batal
- batalcastrated ram
Russian валу́х
- валу́х (valúx)castrated ram
Scottish Gaelic cull-bhoc, eibhreannach
- cull-bhoccastrated goat
- eibhreannachcastrated goat
- laos-boccastrated goat
- multcastrated ram
Spanish castrón, carnero castrado
- castróncastrated goat
- carnero castradocastrated ram
- castróncastrated ram
Swedish hammel, kastrerad bagge
- hammelcastrated goat
- kastrerad baggecastrated goat
- hammelcastrated ram
Thai แพะตอน
- แพะตอน (pɛ́-dtɔɔn)castrated goat
Turkish erkeç, iğdiş koç
- erkeçcastrated goat
- iğdiş koçcastrated ram
- burulmuş koçcastrated ram
- iğdiş etmekto castrate a male sheep or goat
- burmakto castrate a male sheep or goat
- kısırlaştırmakto castrate a male sheep or goat
- taşak burmakto castrate a male sheep or goat
Welsh mollt(yn), gwedder
- mollt(yn)castrated ram
- gweddercastrated ram
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with wether
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
wether. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wether
“wether.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wether. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wether,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wether.
Source: wether on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.