Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
A small breed of dog developed in Belgium, sometimes used as a watchdog on boats.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, natural-sciences, zoology
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
breed of small stocky black dogs originally used as watchdogs on boats in the Netherlands and Belgium
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: watchdog, guard dog
History
From Belgian Dutch (Flemish), but unclear at the word level. * Conventionally taken to be schipper (“skipper”) + -ke (“diminutive suffix”), allegedly alluding to a role as watchdog and/or rodent catcher on canal boats. * Alternatively, a mutation of scheperke, a diminutive of scheper (“shepherd, sheepdog”), referring to the breed's purported descent from an extinct larger breed of sheepdogs. Related to the etymological debate is a longstanding informal one about whether the dog itself should be regarded as a spitz or a miniature sheepdog. For more, see Schipperke § History on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Across languages
1 source translations are retained for this English entry.
