wether noun. ['wɛðǝ] Also wedder.
[Old English weÞer, corresp. to Old Frisian withar, Old Saxon wiÞar (Dutch weer), Old High German widar (German Widder), Old Norse veðr ram, Gothic wiÞrus lamb, from Germanic, of disputed origin.]
1. A male sheep, a ram; esp. a castrated ram. Also wether sheep. OE.
b. transf. A man; esp. a eunuch. M16.

2. The fleece obtained from the second or any subsequent shearing of a sheep. L19.
Phrases: grey wethers any large boulders which resemble sheep in the distance; esp. the sarsen stones of Wiltshire.

Comb.:
wether head a sheep's head; fig. a stupid person; wether hog (chiefly Scot. & north.) a male sheep (castrated or not) before its first shearing; wether lamb a male lamb; wether sheep: see sense 1 above.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲