Shetland

See also: shetland

English

Etymology

From Scots Shetland, Middle Scots Ȝetland, from Old Norse Hjaltland, by surface analysis, hjalt (“hilt”) +‎ land (“land”). Andrew Jennings suggests the name derives from the tribal name Calēdonēs (as in Caledonia), considering the geographer Ptolemy already called the sea north of Scotland ὠκεανός Δουηκαλεδονίος (ōkeanós Douēkaledoníos); if this is correct, the borrowing into Germanic would need to have occurred at such an early date that it took part in the Germanic sound-shift, changing *kalid- to *halit-, after which it underwent folk etymological reshaping to Old Norse hjalt (“hilt”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃɛtlənd/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Proper noun

Shetland

1. The Shetland Islands.
2. A historical county of Scotland.

Derived terms

• Shetlander
• Shetland pony

Translations

Shetland Islands — see Shetland Islands

Noun

Shetland (countable and uncountable, plural Shetlands)

1. (uncountable) A particular breed of pony.
2. (countable) A pony of this breed.
3. (uncountable) A particular breed of sheep.
4. (countable) A sheep of this breed.
5. (uncountable) Alternative letter-case form of shetland: light, loose wool fabric.
   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, London: Heinemann, →OCLC, page 24:

     ...I'll tell you what else is a fact. It's a fact that he is wearing his blue Shetland turtle-neck today. Even as we speak his body is moving inside it. Warm and quick. It's more than flesh and blood can stand.

Synonyms

• (breed of pony): Shetland pony (more common)
• (pony): Shetland pony (more common)

Anagrams

• handlest

References

Jennings, Andrew: The etymology of the name Shetland: an examination of possibilities

Dutch

Etymology

From English Shetland.

Proper noun

Shetland n

1. Shetland

   Synonyms: Shetlandeilanden, (obsolete) Hitland

Derived terms

• Shetlandeilanden
• Shetlander, shetlander
• shetlandpony
• Shetlands

 

Further reading

• Shetland on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

Norwegian Bokmål

Proper noun

Shetland

1. Shetland

Synonyms

• Shetlandsøyene

Derived terms

• shetlandsponni

Related terms

• shetlandsk
• shetlender, shetlending

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• Sjetland (alternative spelling)

Etymology

Borrowed from English Shetland, from Scots Shetland, from Middle Scots Ȝetland, from Old Norse Hjaltland. Doublet of Hjaltland.

Proper noun

Shetland

1. Shetland

Synonyms

• Shetlandsøyane

Derived terms

• shetlandsponni

Related terms

• shetlandsk
• shetlendar, shetlending

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃetlent]

Proper noun

Shetland

1. genitive of Shetlandy

Swedish

Proper noun

Shetland n (genitive Shetlands)

1. Shetland Islands (group of islands); Contraction of Shetlandsöarna.