- a male sheep, usually wearing a bell, that leads the flock
- a leader, esp. of a sheeplike crowd
- anything suggesting the general tendency or direction of events, style, etc.
Origin of bellwether
ME: see bell and wether
noun
The definition of a bellwether is someone or something that is an indicator of future trends.
If rising unemployment numbers are an indicator of a recession, then they are an example of a bellwether of recession.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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bellwether
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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bellwether
noun
One that serves as a leader or as a leading indicator of future trends: “The degree to which the paper is censored is a political bellwether” ( Justine De Lacy )
Origin of bellwether
Middle English bellewether wether with a bell hung from its neck, leader of the flock belle bell ; see bell 1. wether wether ; see wether .THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"Bellwether." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/bellwether.
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Bellwether. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/bellwether
Noun
(plural bellwethers)
Origin
From Middle English belwether, belleweder (“a sheep with a bell around its neck to lead a flock”), equivalent to bell + wether.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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"Bellwether." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/bellwether.
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bellwether - Investment & Finance Definition
A stock, index, bond, or other financial instrument that shows the direction of a market. Significant and widely owned stocks may become bellwethers of market direction. In the Treasury bond market, the 10-year note is a bellwether.
Webster's New World Finance and Investment Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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"Bellwether." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/bellwether.
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Bellwether. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/bellwether
Sentence Examples
- It won't do your student much good to know how to spell "bellwether" if he has no idea that a bellwether is a ram that leads the rest of the herd.
Also Mentioned In
WORDS NEAR bellwether IN THE DICTIONARY
- bellwether
- bellwethers
- bellwork
- bellwort