# sheath

> English word · Noun · IPA /ʃiːθ/ · frequency rank #23,671

## Definitions
1. A holster for a sword; a scabbard.
2. Anything that has a similar shape to a scabbard that is used to hold an object that is longer than it is wide.
3. The base of a leaf when sheathing or investing a branch or stem, as in grasses.
4. The insulating outer cover of an electrical cable.
5. One of the elytra of an insect.
6. A tight-fitting dress.
7. The foreskin of certain animals (for example, dogs and horses).
8. A condom.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **sheet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheath-vs-sheet)
- **sweat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheath-vs-sweat)
- **swath** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheath-vs-swath)
- **sheets** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheath-vs-sheets)
- **Sheikh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheath-vs-sheikh)
- **sweaty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheath-vs-sweaty)
- **sweats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheath-vs-sweats)
- **sheesh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheath-vs-sheesh)
- **sleuth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheath-vs-sleuth)
- **stealth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheath-vs-stealth)
- **seat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seat-vs-sheath)
- **Seth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seth-vs-sheath)
- **shah** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shah-vs-sheath)
- **Shea** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shea-vs-sheath)
- **shat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shat-vs-sheath)
- **seats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/seats-vs-sheath)
- **shear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shear-vs-sheath)
- **sheaf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sheaf-vs-sheath)
- **shears** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shears-vs-sheath)

## Common misspellings (9)
`hseath`, `sehath`, `shaeth`, `sheaht`, `sheathh`, `sheatth`, `shetah`, `shheath`, `ssheath`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sheath