sheep

/ʃiːp/

//ʃiːp// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"sheep" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sheep” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,264. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,264
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sheep · sheep · English

sheep · rank #5,264 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,264
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH scenario

Nearest frequency peer: scenario (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “sheep”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “sheep” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sheep vs ship
60% similar
sheep vs shop
60% similar
sheep vs shoe
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for sheep
PropertyValue
Headwordsheep
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ʃiːp/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,264
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sheep”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).sheeplands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “scenario” (#5,263), “situated” (#5,265), “sandy” (#5,262). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sheep” is #5,264. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around sheep (IPA /ʃiːp/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,264 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for sheep, with forms such as "hseep", "sehep", and "sheepp". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ship", "shop", "shoe", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English schep, schepe, from Anglian Old English sċēp (West Saxon sċēap), from Proto-West Germanic *skāp, from Proto-Germanic *skēpą, of unknown origin. Perhaps from the same Scythian word (compare Ossetian цӕу (cæw, “goat”), Persian چپ… The correct English form is sheep, spelled S-H-E-E-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis.
  2. 2
    A member of the domestic species Ovis aries, the most well-known species of Ovis.
  3. 3
    A timid, shy person who is easily led by others.
  4. 4
    A religious adherent, a member of a congregation or religious community (compare flock).
  5. 5
    Sheepskin leather.
  6. 6
    A person who is easily understood by a speech recognition system; contrasted with goat.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how sheep appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. There is much sad evidence, too, of the spoliation and dereliction of vanished industry: tips, slag-heaps and derelict colliery-screens among which the ubiquitous, nomad mountain sheep graze unconcernedly.
  2. 1990, Dave Mustaine, "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due", Megadeth, Rust in Peace. And fools like me, who cross the sea and come to foreign lands / Ask the sheep, for their beliefs do you kill on God's command?

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English schep, schepe, from Anglian Old English sċēp (West Saxon sċēap), from Proto-West Germanic *skāp, from Proto-Germanic *skēpą, of unknown origin. Perhaps from the same Scythian word (compare Ossetian цӕу (cæw, “goat”), Persian چپش (čapiš, “yearling goat”)) which was borrowed into Albanian as cjap, sqap (“buck”) and into Slavic (compare Polish cap). After Kroonen, *skēpą is instead from the root of Proto-Germanic *skabaną (“to scratch”) via Kluge's law. Cognates Cognate with Scots sheep (“sheep”), Yola sheep, zheep (“sheep”), North Frisian schep, schäip, Sjip (“sheep”), Saterland Frisian Schäip, Skäip (“sheep”), West Frisian skiep (“sheep”), Alemannic German Schaf, Schooff (“sheep”), Bavarian Schof, Schouf, Schåf (“sheep”), Dutch schaap (“sheep”), German Schaf (“sheep”), German Low German Schaap (“sheep”), Limburgish Schoëp, sjaop (“sheep”), Luxembourgish Schof (“sheep”), Vilamovian siöf (“sheep”), Yiddish שאָף (shof, “sheep”).

Synonyms

Ovissheep

This word in other languages

carnero(Español)mouton(Français)Schaf(Deutsch)ovelha(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hseep
  • sehep
  • sheepp
  • shepe
  • shheep
  • ssheep

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sheep - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

hseep2sehep2sheepp1shepe2shheep1ssheep1
Edit distance from "sheep"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sheep"?
"sheep" is spelled S-H-E-E-P. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃiːp/.
What does "sheep" mean?
As a noun, "sheep" means: A woolly ruminant of the genus Ovis.
What words are commonly confused with "sheep"?
"sheep" is commonly confused with "ship", "shop", "shoe". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sheep"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sheep" is /ʃiːp/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "sheep"?
Inherited from Middle English schep, schepe, from Anglian Old English sċēp (West Saxon sċēap), from Proto-West Germanic *skāp, from Proto-Germanic *skēpą, of unknown origin. Perhaps from the same Scythian word (compare Ossetian цӕу (cæw, “goat”), ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sheep", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sandy#5,262trace#5,277nerve#5,237Marie#5,234

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

Xbox6 variantsbases6 variantsbits6 variantschill6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list