cattle
/ˈkætəl/ noun, proper noun
Also a form of cow
Forms cattles cattling cattled
- noun Domesticated animals of the species Bos taurus (cows, bulls, steers, oxen etc), and other hoofed mammals of the genus Bos. “Many cattle were suffering from a disease called BSE.”
- noun Certain other livestock, such as sheep, pigs or goats. Also rarely applied to horses.
- noun (derogatory, figuratively) People who resemble domesticated bovine animals in behavior or destiny.
- noun (obsolete, English law, sometimes countable, plural cattles) chattel
- noun (uncountable, rare) Used in restricted contexts to refer to the meat derived from cattle.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
beef Bos bovine cattlebeast cattlehead neat kine sheeple cows oxen Bos taurus
Etymology
From Middle English catel, from Anglo-Norman catel (“personal property”), from Old Northern French (compare French cheptel, Old French chetel, chatel, also English chattel) from Medieval Latin capitāle, from Latin capitālis (“of the head”) (whence also capital, from caput (“head”) + -alis (“-al”)). For the sense evolution, compare pecuniary and fee. Also compare Russian поголо́вье (pogolóvʹje, “total number of livestock”) from Russian голова́ (golová, “head”). Doublet of capital and chattel.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Quadrupeds of the Bovine family; sometimes, also, including all domestic quadrupeds, as sheep, goats, horses, mules, asses, and swine. Belted cattle, Black cattle. See under Belted, Black.
Etymology [OE. calet, chatel, goods, property, OF. catel, chatel, LL. captale, capitale, goods, property, esp. cattle, fr. L. capitals relating to the head, chief; because in early ages beasts constituted the chief part of a man's property. See Capital, and cf. Chattel.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cattle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details