cattle

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Cows and bulls kept on a farm for their milk or meat.

   The farmer keeps a large herd of cattle on the hillside.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Cattle began in Middle English as a variant of chattel, from Old French chatel, ultimately from Latin caput, “head,” through capitalis, “of the head,” and medieval Latin capitale. It could refer broadly to possessions or livestock before becoming restricted in the mid-16th century to cows and similar animals.

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.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary