bellwether

WOTD - 27 September 2006    

English

Alternative spellings

• bell-wether

Etymology

From bell + wether, originally a sheep with a bell around its neck, that led a flock. A ewe may fill the role, but the word wether is specific to a castrated male sheep.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbɛlwɛðə/ (RP)
• (US) IPA: /ˈbɛlwɛðɚ/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

Noun

Singular bellwether

Plural {{{1}}}

bellwether ({{{1}}})

1. The leading sheep of a flock, having a bell hung round its neck.
2. Anything that indicates future trends.
3. A stock or bond that is widely believed to be an indicator of the overall market's condition.

Quotations

• 1861 — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Elsie Venner, ch XXXI

  Several old ladies forthwith proclaimed their intention of following him; but, as one or two of them were deaf, and another had been threatened with an attack of that mild, but obstinate complaint, dementia senilis, many thought it was not so much the force of his arguments as a kind of tendency to jump as the bellwether jumps, well known in flocks not included in the Christian fold.

Synonyms

• (indicates trends): gauge, indicator, sign

Translations

the leading sheep of a flock, having a bell hung round its neck

Finnish: kellokas fi(fi)

German: Leithammel de(de) m.

anything that indicates future trends

Finnish: ennusmerkki fi(fi)

a stock or bond that is widely believed to be an indicator of the overall market's condition

German: führender Wert de(de) m.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Japanese: 先導者（せんどうしゃ, sendousha）, 指標（しひょう, shihyou）, 主導者 (しゅどうしゃ, shudousha)

See also

• omen

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