bellwether

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

From Middle English belwether, belleweder, equivalent to bell + wether (“castrated ram”).

They turned to him as a sheep turns to a bellwether. — Changeling, and Other Stories, Donn Byrne
Everything was sweet and still, save, indeed, the carol of the birds, or the tinkle of some restless bellwether. — Henrietta Temple: A Love Story, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield Disraeli
With that he came to the place where it was, and lifted it out of the ground with his little finger as easily as you would have done a hawk’s bell or bellwether’s tingle-tangle; but, before he would carry it to the foresaid tower or steeple appointed for it, he would needs make some music with it about the town, and ring it alongst all the streets as he carried it in his hand, wherewith all the people were very glad. — Gargantua and Pantagruel, François Rabelais

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