Etymograph

English

theave

Theave comes from Middle English theve ‘young ewe’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *þebu.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þebu‘a young ewe’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150*þeofureconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500theve‘young ewe’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1523theave

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*þebu‘a young ewe’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150*þeofureconstructed
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500theve‘young ewe’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1523theave

Earliest quotation: 1523, Anthony Fitzherbert: “The ewes by them-selfe, the share-hogges and theyues by…”

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *þebu

Today it means

noun A ewe lamb of a specific age; in some areas, applied to lambs in their the first or second year (before they have had lambs themselves), in others to lambs in their third year, before their second shearing.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *þebu / theave

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