Meaning

noun a protective covering (as for a knife or sword)

noun an enveloping structure or covering enclosing an animal or plant organ or part

noun a dress suitable for formal occasions

originFrom Middle English sheth, shethe (“holder for a sword, knife, etc., scabbard, sheath”) [and other forms], from Old English sċēaþ (“sheath”), from Proto-West Germanic *skaiþiju, from Proto-Germanic *skaiþiz (“sheath; covering”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to dissect, split”) (possibly from the notion of a split stick with a sword inserted). The English word is cognate with Danish skede,…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0