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I've heard of "she-wolf" (partially from mythology, partially from pop music), and I'm wondering which animals "she-" can and can't be used on.

Wiktionary mentions a variety of animals (she-ass, she-bear, she-cat, she-dog, she-elephant, she-goat, she-monkey, she-wolf) but apart from them all being placental mammals, there doesn't seem to be anything in common between them - some are domesticated, some aren't, some are carnivorous, some are vegetarian.

Which animals can "she-" and can't be used on, and why?

I tried looking for information on this, but came up with http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/threads/115063-she-horse and http://lydbury.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2148.0 which don't fully answer my question.

The online etymology dictionary doesn't have any information about she as a prefix.

Golden Cuy
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2 Answers2

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The prefix "she-" isn't listed in the dictionary. The only "she-" animal that is listed in the dictionary is a "she-wolf." There are no other "she-" animals listed.

The OED, while it doesn't list "she-bear" separately, it does list it as one of the two possibilities of "she-," along with "she-wolf," under the definition of "she."

Benjamin Harman
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  • Isn't she in shemale prefix? Oh, male is not an animal. :-) –  Jan 16 '16 at 13:35
  • @Rathony : "She-male," "she-devil," and a handful of others all have their own entries. I didn't mention them because they're not animals per se. – Benjamin Harman Jan 16 '16 at 13:36
  • If you Google she fox, you get 38,000 hits. I mean, I don't think its number is limited. There could be many more. –  Jan 16 '16 at 13:39
  • That's actually not very many, especially since there's an animation character named "She-Fox." – Benjamin Harman Jan 16 '16 at 13:43
  • She dog and she-cat... –  Jan 16 '16 at 13:44
  • Lol. I think we all know what that word is. She-deer? Oh, wait, that's a doe. She-lion? Oh, wait, that's a lioness. A she-wolf is a she-wolf. There's no other word for it. – Benjamin Harman Jan 16 '16 at 13:44
  • I mean it would be better to include those words as just possible words that could be made with "she". –  Jan 16 '16 at 13:45
  • Why? They can't be made with she-? She- isn't even a thing by itself. It's not a prefix. I'd get downvoted for listing nonwords. – Benjamin Harman Jan 16 '16 at 13:46
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    You said, "There are no other "she-" animals listed." But I think its potential is limitless. –  Jan 16 '16 at 13:47
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    Be that as it may, that thought can't be backed up with sources. How many times have I heard that this is a site about sources? You have to have references. It just doesn't hold up. – Benjamin Harman Jan 16 '16 at 13:49
  • I posted Wiktionary links for she dog and she cat. –  Jan 16 '16 at 13:50
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    I don't list Wiktionary links anymore. I get scathed every time because anyone can input anything they want to Wiktionary. I could go there and input "she-Rathony" and then you'd have another you could list. ;-) – Benjamin Harman Jan 16 '16 at 13:52
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    I like she-Rathony. Some definitions of Wiktionary are better than other top dictionaries. Their quality is getting better. We should avoid further comments. +1) –  Jan 16 '16 at 13:53
  • @BenjaminHarman A quick search reveals that a female wolf can be referred to as a bitch as well as a she-wolf, so there is another word for it. –  Jan 16 '16 at 14:22
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    Google's "guestimate" of "about 30,800 results" for she-camel may be a bit optimistic, but there are certainly enough instances to make it hard to deny that it's a "valid word". – FumbleFingers Jan 16 '16 at 15:46
  • @FumbleFingers : That's not because "she-camel" represents female camels. That's because "She-Camel of God" is a proper name. She-Camel of God was the name of a miraculous camel in Arabian lore and from the Qur'an. She-Camel of God was a miraculous camel sent by God to the people of Thamud, in Arabia, when they demanded their prophet Saleh or Sahlay to ask God for a miracle. The narrative and story of She-Camel of God is recorded in the Qur'an. A female camel is a cow. – Benjamin Harman Jan 16 '16 at 17:07
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    @Benjamin: As my hero Russell Hoban points out, Those foolish Thamud people are often referred to in the Quran and thus are we reminded that not only is every she-camel the she-camel of God,* but every other animal and all of us as well, we are all creatures of God.* Clearly the first instance of *she-camel* there generically references all female camels, even if the second one is a "proper noun". – FumbleFingers Jan 16 '16 at 17:40
  • @FumbleFingers : You are too funny! That's hilarious. "Not only is every she-camel the She-Camel of God..." That's got to be the funniest thing I've read all day. – Benjamin Harman Jan 16 '16 at 18:24
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    If you're not familiar with Russell Hoban, I commend Riddley Walker to you. It's not a children's book at all - it's written phonetically in an imaginary dialect that works so well that after a bit you stop noticing it. But he really has an excellent grasp of the limits of English, as well as an incredibly fertile imagination and a willingness to explore almost any subject matter. – FumbleFingers Jan 16 '16 at 18:53
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This site has the following list of female terms with "she-":

she-ass (mule), she-bear, she-chuck (woodchuck), she-fox, she-goat, she-lion (lion & cougar).

She-bear is mentioned in English Bibles

Oxford English Dictionary 2d Ed. has a subsense of a dictionary entry "she":

  1. Female. Applied to animals, as in she-ass, she-bear, she-wolf (also fig.), etc.; she-dog, chiefly transf. = bitch 2; she-dragon, a female dragon; also transf.; she-lion slang, a punning distortion of ‘shilling’; she-stock, -stuff U.S., female cattle.

OAD 2d Ed. also has she-ape, she-raven, she-sparrow, she-cat, she-dingo, she-panther, she-lion, she-tiger, she-pigs, she-whales, she-fairies, she-devil, she-griffin, she-giant, she-furies, she-cousin, she-pensioners, she-priest, she-bishop, she-waiter, she-surgeon, she-slaves, she-fool in the definitions and/or examples.

Webster's Unabridged 3d Ed. has she-ass as a dictionary entry, and she-goat, she-fox, she-serpent, she-monster, she-demon, she-wolf, she-mule in the definitions.

Besides, Unabridged M-W has she-crab "an immature female blue crab".

Kostya Hmelnitski
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    Interesting. Many of these have more common species-specific female terms, like "jenny" (ass), "vixen," "nanny goat," "lioness." – herisson Jan 16 '16 at 20:56