What do a castrated goat, today’s forecast, and a tricky conjunctionhave in common? Grammarly’s Shundalyn Allen breaks down these homophones. From white papers to screenplays, make sure to pay close attention to keep from confusing them—or ones like your writing!
Wether vs. Weather vs. Whether—What’s the difference?
A wether is a ram or goat that is castrated at a young age. Unless you work with livestock, you are not likely to use the term very often. However, one word that you may know derives from wether. Shepherds and goatherds attach a bell to the lead animal and call it a bellwether. The word now describes anyone who leads. In an election, counties or states are bellwethers when they seem to indicate which direction the country will go. Notice this explanation of bellwether in the quote below and a usage example of wether:
NPR
There were a lot of happy wether sellers at the Jamestown, South Australia, sheep market last Thursday.Stock & Land