Bellwether
WordNet
noun
(1) Sheep that leads the herd often wearing a bell
(2) Someone who assumes leadership of a movement or activity
WiktionaryText
Etymology
From bell + wether, originally a sheep with a bell around its neck, that led a flock. A ewe may fill the role, but the word wether is specific to a castrated male sheep.
Noun
- The leading sheep of a flock, having a bell hung round its neck.
- Anything that indicates future trends.
- A stock or bond that is widely believed to be an indicator of the overall market's condition.
Quotations
- 1861 — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Elsie Venner, ch XXXI
- Several old ladies forthwith proclaimed their intention of following him; but, as one or two of them were deaf, and another had been threatened with an attack of that mild, but obstinate complaint, dementia senilis, many thought it was not so much the force of his arguments as a kind of tendency to jump as the bellwether jumps, well known in flocks not included in the Christian fold.