maen.
/mɛː/, U.S. /mɛ/, Scottish English /me/, /mɛ/, /ma/ Scottish.
1. The bleat of a sheep or (esp.) a lamb. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1720 A. Pennecuik Streams from Helicon (ed. 2) i. 24 Swains wind their Horns, to welcom new-born Day, And Lambs bear Treble with their kindly Mae.
1720 A. Pennecuik Streams from Helicon (ed. 2) iii. 172 The bleetings of the Lambs, and hoarser Maes of Ews, that brouzed on the Mountain Sides.
1823 J. Kennedy Poems & Songs 89 With droves of sheep, I canna say How many past in waesome mae.
1881 J. McLaren Chimla-lug 21 The mey o' the lammie beside its ain mammy, Fell soft on oor ears as we sat there alane.
1890 A. Lowson John Guidfollow 56 The innocent lammies hae ceased, since they got their last suck, tae gi'e vent to their plaintive mae, mae.
2. A sheep, a lamb. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > genus Ovus > [noun] > Ovus Aries (domestic sheep)
sheepc825
sowthc1175
balle1440
wool-bearer1483
flocklinga1652
ram-sheep1672
fleece1783
jumbuck1824
ovine1890
mae1899
woolly1910
1899 J. Allan Cracks wi' Flutorm 36 What thorn had torn fae tousy mae, Was gathered in a creel.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, March 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1720