sheath

English

Etymology 1

A princely Mughal sabre with a jewelled sheath (sense 1) or scabbard.

A diagram showing electrical wires with sheaths (sense 4) of different colours.

CNN journalist Campbell Brown in a sheath dress (sense 6).

From Middle English sheth, shethe (“holder for a sword, knife, etc., scabbard, sheath”) , from Old English sċēaþ (“sheath”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaiþiju, from Proto-Germanic *skaiþiz (“sheath; covering”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to dissect, split”) (possibly from the notion of a split stick with a sword inserted).

The English word is cognate with Danish skede, Dutch schede, Icelandic skeið, German Scheide, Low German scheed, Norwegian skjede.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: shēth, IPA^(key): /ʃiːθ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ʃiθ/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːθ

Noun

sheath (plural sheaths)

1. A holster for a sword; a scabbard.
2. (by extension) Anything that has a similar shape to a scabbard that is used to hold an object that is longer than it is wide.

   Synonyms: case, casing, cover, covering, envelope

3. (botany) The base of a leaf when sheathing or investing a branch or stem, as in grasses.
4. (electrical engineering) The insulating outer cover of an electrical cable.
5. (entomology) One of the elytra of an insect.
6. (fashion) A tight-fitting dress.
7. (zoology) The foreskin of certain animals (for example, dogs and horses).
8. (British, informal) A condom.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:condom

Derived terms

Related terms

• sheathe
• heliosheath
• resheath, resheathe
• unsheath, unsheathe

Translations

Etymology 2

A variant of sheathe.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: shēth, IPA^(key): /ʃiːð/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ʃið/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːð

Verb

sheath (third-person singular simple present sheaths, present participle sheathing, simple past and past participle sheathed)

1. Alternative spelling of sheathe

   Antonym: unsheath

   • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 171, column 1:

     Nay, neuer beare me hence, diſpatch me heere: / Here ſheath thy Sword, Ile pardon thee my death: [...]

   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 125, column 1:

     Sheath your Dagger: / Be angry when you will, it ſhall haue ſcope: [...]

   • 1687, [John Dryden], “The Third Part”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: Jacob Tonson , →OCLC, page 88:

     So when the gen'rous Lyon has in ſight / His equal match, he rouſes for the fight; / But when his foe lyes proſtrate on the plain, / He ſheaths his paws, uncurls his angry mane; / And, plea'd with bloudleſs honours of the day, / Walks over, and diſdains th' inglorious Prey, [...]

   • , [John] Gay, “Book III. Of Walking the Streets by Night.”, in Trivia: Or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London, London: Bernard Lintott, , →OCLC, page 53:

     At Sight of thee, the Villain ſheaths his Sword, / Nor ſcales the Wall, to ſteal the wealthy Hoard.

   • 1972, “Thick As A Brick”, Ian Anderson (lyrics), performed by Jethro Tull:

     And the poet lifts his pen
     While the soldier sheaths his sword.

Derived terms

• ensheath, insheath
• resheath
• unsheath

References

Further reading

• sheath on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “sheath”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “sheath”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• heaths