bellwether
UK /ˈbɛlwɛðə/ · US /ˈbɛlwɛðɚ/ noun
Forms bellwethers bell-wether belwether bellweather bellwhether
- noun The leading sheep of a flock, having a bell hung round its neck.
- noun (figuratively) Anything that indicates future trends. “Mortgage delinquencies often act as a bellwether for a forthcoming recession.”
- noun (finance, figuratively) A stock whose price performance is treated as an indicator of the likely direction of a broader market, sector, or industry.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English belwether, belleweder, equivalent to bell + wether (“castrated ram”).
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bellwether”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details