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”) [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.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (General American):

  (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

• leaf sheath
• medullary sheath
• myelin sheath
• penile sheath
• penis sheath
• Schwann's sheath
• sheath cake
• sheath dress
• sheath knife
• sheathless
• sheathlike
• sheath-tail bat
• sheath-tailed bat
• sheath-tailed mouse
• sheathy

 

Related terms

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

Translations

scabbard — see scabbard

long case

• Albanian: mill (sq) m
• Catalan: embolcall (ca) m
• Dutch: huls (nl) f
• Esperanto: ingo (eo)
• Finnish: suojus (fi), tuppi (fi)
• French: étui (fr) m, gaine (fr) f (for a knife)
• German: Futteral (de) n, Hülle (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: κέλυφος n (kéluphos)

• Hebrew: נרתיק (he) m (nartik)
• Hungarian: tok (hu)
• Ingrian: tuppi, hoodra
• Italian: guaina (it) f
• Latin: vāgīna f
• Latvian: maksts (lv) f
• Macedonian: футро́ла f (futróla)
• Portuguese: revestimento (pt) m
• Russian: футля́р (ru) m (futljár)
• Spanish: envoltura (es) f
• Swedish: fodral (sv) n
• Vietnamese: vỏ (vi)
• Yiddish: שייד f (sheyd)

insulating outer cover of an electrical cable

• French: gaine (fr) f
• German: Hülle (de) f, Mantel (de) n, Ummantelung f, Umhüllung (de) f
• Hungarian: Bergmann cső, borítás (hu), burkolat (hu), szigetelés (hu), védőcső
• Spanish: cubierta exterior f, envoltura exterior f, funda exterior, vaina externa f
• Swedish: hölje (sv)

tight-fitting dress

• Catalan: folre (ca) m
• Finnish: kotelomekko
• French: fourreau (fr) m, robe fourreau f
• German: Etuikleid (de) n
• Swedish: fodral (sv) n, fodralklänning c

condom — see condom

foreskin of certain animals

• Catalan: beina (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 包皮 (zh) (bāopí)

• Finnish: tuppi (fi)
• Italian: prepuzio (it) m
• Polish: puzdro (pl) n
• Portuguese: prepúcio (pt) m

Etymology 2

A variant of sheathe.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (General American):

  (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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v], 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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], 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, [...]

   • [1716], [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

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