Changes

==Origin==

==Origin==

[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], leading sheep of a flock, leader, from belle bell + wether; from the [[practice]] of belling the [[leader]] of a flock.

[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], leading sheep of a flock, leader, from belle bell + wether; from the [[practice]] of belling the [[leader]] of a flock.

 

We usually think of sheep more as followers than [[leaders]], but in a flock one sheep must lead the way. Long ago, it was common [[practice]] for [[shepherds]] to hang a bell around the neck of one sheep in their flock, thereby designating it the lead sheep. This [[animal]] was called the bellwether, a [[word]] formed by a combination of the Middle English words belle (meaning "bell") and wether (a noun that refers to a [[male]] sheep that has been [[castrate]]d). It [[eventually]] followed that bellwether would come to refer to someone who takes [[initiative]] or who actively establishes a [[trend]] that is taken up by others. This usage first appeared in [[English]] in the 13th century.

We usually think of sheep more as followers than [[leaders]], but in a flock one sheep must lead the way. Long ago, it was common [[practice]] for [[shepherds]] to hang a bell around the neck of one sheep in their flock, thereby designating it the lead sheep. This [[animal]] was called the bellwether, a [[word]] formed by a combination of the Middle English words belle (meaning "bell") and wether (a noun that refers to a [[male]] sheep that has been [[castrate]]d). It [[eventually]] followed that bellwether would come to refer to someone who takes [[initiative]] or who actively establishes a [[trend]] that is taken up by others. This usage first appeared in [[English]] in the 13th century.

==Definition==

==Definition==