Sheep Is the Same in Singular and Plural
A sheep is a woolly farm animal. It belongs to a small group of English nouns with no separate plural form.
A sheep is a woolly ruminant kept for wool, meat and milk. One sheep, two sheep — the word belongs to a small group of unchanging plurals that mostly name animals: *deer*, *fish*, *swine*, *trout*, *salmon*. These are survivals of an Old English noun class whose plural had no ending, and the pattern held for animals people counted in herds. English also keeps separate words for the meat: *mutton* and *lamb* are French, from the Norman-speaking table.
- A woolly ruminant. *A flock of sheep.*
- Ewe — a female. *A ewe.*
- Ram — a male. *A ram.*
- Mutton — the meat. *Mutton.*
- Old English — *sceap*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | sheep | A sheep. |
| Plural | sheep | Ten sheep. |
| Female | ewe | A ewe. |
| Male | ram | A ram. |
| Young | lamb | A lamb. |
- The flock had two hundred sheep.Plural.
- A ewe with twin lambs.Terms.
- Mutton is French, sheep is English.Vocabulary.
Animal and meat word pairs
- Sheep / mutton — English animal, French meat
- Cow / beef — from French *boeuf*
- Pig / pork — from French *porc*
- Calf / veal — from French *veau*
- The pattern reflects who tended the animals and who ate them after 1066
Old English *sceap*, of West Germanic origin, related to Dutch *schaap* and German *Schaf*.
Why is the plural of sheep also sheep?
It survives from an Old English noun class whose plural took no ending, a pattern kept mainly by animals counted in herds.
Why is the meat called mutton?
From French mouton. After the Norman conquest the English words named the living animals and the French words the meat on the table.