English Explanatory Dictionary

sheath

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A holster for a sword; a scabbard.
  2. Anything that has a similar shape to a scabbard that is used to hold an object that is longer than it is wide.
  3. The base of a leaf when sheathing or investing a branch or stem, as in grasses.
  4. The insulating outer cover of an electrical cable.
  5. One of the elytra of an insect.
  6. A tight-fitting dress.
  7. The foreskin of certain animals (for example, dogs and horses).
  8. A condom.
verb
  1. Obsolete spelling of sheathe.

Pronunciation

shēth /ʃiːθ/ /ʃiθ/ En-us-sheath.ogg /ʃiːð/ /ʃið/ En-us-sheathe.ogg

Word forms

sheath sheaths sheathing sheathed

Etymology

From Middle English sheth, shethe (“holder for a sword, knife, etc., scabbard, sheath”) [and other forms], 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.

Synonyms

case casing cover covering envelope condom cum catcher rubber

Antonyms

unsheath

Related words

sheathe heliosheath resheath resheathe unsheath unsheathe

Derived words

astrosheath desheath exsheath exsheathment femoral sheath leaf sheath magnetosheath medullary sheath myelin sheath penile sheath penis sheath presheath rhizosheath rice sheath mite root sheath Schwann's sheath sheathbill sheath cake sheath dress sheather sheathfish sheath knife sheathless sheathlike sheathotomy sheath-tail bat sheath-tailed bat sheath-tailed mouse sheathy sub ensheath insheath resheath unsheath
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