ovella

• oveia, auvella, ouvella, auveia, auvea, aovella, uella, güella, auella
• avolla, avoia, voia (from Vulgar Latin *ovuc(u)la)

Inherited from Old Catalan oveylla, from Latin ovicula, diminutive of ovis, from Proto-Italic *owis, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ówis. Compare Occitan oelha. The initial diphthong in numerous regional variants reflects contamination from preceding determiners with final /-a/, as in una ovella > un' auvella.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [uˈβɛ.ʎə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [oˈvə.ʎə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [oˈve.ʎa]

• Audio:

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ovella f (plural ovelles)

1. sheep

   Synonym: be

2. ewe

• marrà
• moltó

• ovellenc
• oveller

• oví

• “ovella” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• Petit Atles Lingüístic del Domini Català 6 'ovella'

• “ovella”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “ovella”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “ovella” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese ovella, from Latin ovicula.

• IPA^(key): /oˈbeʎa/
• Rhymes: -eʎa
• Syllabification: o‧ve‧lla

ovella f (plural ovellas)

1. ewe (female sheep)
2. sheep

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021) Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web)‎^[1], 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN

• IPA^(key): /ˈoʋelːɑ/, [ˈo̞ʋe̞lːɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -oʋelːɑ
• Syllabification^(key): o‧vel‧la
• Hyphenation^(key): ovel‧la

ovella

1. (figuratively) (temporally) near, coming (soon)

   Joulu on jo ovella.

   Christmas is already soon.

   (literally, “Christmas is already at the door.”)

ovella

1. adessive singular of ovi

• velloa

• ovelha (reintegrationist)
• ouvella

From Old Galician-Portuguese ovella, from Latin ovicula, diminutive of ovis, from Proto-Italic *owis, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ówis. Compare Portuguese ovelha, Spanish oveja.

• IPA^(key): [oˈβeʎɐ]

ovella f (plural ovellas)

1. sheep

• ovellado
• Ovellariza
• ovelleiro

• cordeiro

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “ovella”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “ovella”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “ovella”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “ovella”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “ovella”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN