{{was wotd|2006|September|27}}

English

Alternative spellings

• bell-wether

Etymology

From bell + wether, originally a sheep with a bell around its neck, that led a flock.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbɛlwɛðə/
• IPA: /ˈbɛlwɛðɚ/
• An audio transcript can be found at en-us-bellwether.ogg

Noun

1. The leading sheep of a flock, having a bell hung round its neck.
2. Anything that indicates future trends.
3. A stock or bond that is widely believed to be an indicator of the overall market|market's condition.

Quotations

• 1861 — w:Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.|Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., s:Elsie Venner|Elsie Venner, ch XXXI
• :Several old ladies forthwith proclaimed their intention of following him; but, as one or two of them were deaf, and another had been threatened with an attack of that mild, but obstinate complaint, dementia senilis, many thought it was not so much the force of his arguments as a kind of tendency to jump as the bellwether jumps, well known in flocks not included in the Christian fold.

Synonyms

• : gauge, indicator, sign

Translations

• German: {{t+|de|Leithammel|m}}

• German: führender {{t+|de|Wert|m}}

• : 先導者（せんどうしゃ, sendousha）, 指標（しひょう, shihyou）, 主導者 (しゅどうしゃ, shudousha)

See also

• omen

et:bellwether nl:bellwether ru:bellwether sv:bellwether vi:bellwether zh:bellwether