Shetland

Meanings

1. Ellipsis of the Shetland Islands: an archipelago and council area of Scotland.
2. A historical county of Scotland.

1. A particular breed of pony.
2. A pony of this breed.
3. A particular breed of sheep.
4. A sheep of this breed.
5. Alternative letter-case form of shetland: light, loose wool fabric.

1. Lightweight, loosely twisted wool fabric.

Etymology

From Scots Shetland, Middle Scots Ȝetland, from Old Norse Hjaltland, by surface analysis, hjalt (“hilt”) + land (“land”). Andrew Jennings suggests the name derives from the tribal name Calēdonēs (as in Caledonia), considering the geographer Ptolemy already called the sea north of Scotland ὠκεανός Δουηκαλεδονίος (ōkeanós Douēkaledoníos); if this is correct, the borrowing into Germanic would need to have occurred at such an early date that it took part in the Germanic sound-shift, changing *kalid- to *halit-, after which it underwent folk etymological reshaping to Old Norse hjalt (“hilt”).