cattle
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈkæt(ə)l/ (UK); /ˈkæt̬(ə)l/ (US)[1]
Etymology
It is Middle English catel, borrowed from Anglo-Norman catel (“property”), Old North French catel, a variant of Old French chatel,[2][3][4][5] from Medieval Latin capitale (“property, stock”), the neuter of Latin capitalis (“of the head, principal”), from caput (“head”).[3][2] It is a doublet of chattel.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Property of any kind, including money, land or income: about 1250 in Barnhart, the mid-13th century in Etymonline.[2][3]
Semantic evolution
Etymonline compares the sense development of fee and pecuniary, also words for property drawn from livestock.[3] Money or capital as distinct from interest is from about 1330.[6] Livestock is from before 1325, and in later Middle English especially movable property, including horses, sheep and asses;[2][3] it began to be limited to cows and bulls from the late 16th century.[3]
Timeline
- c. 1250 – property.[2]
- before 1325 – livestock.[2]
- c. 1330 – capital (obsolete).[6]
- late 16th century – cows and bulls.[3]
Modern meaning
Noun
- Large domesticated animals of the ox family, such as cows, bulls and steers, kept for meat or milk.
- (archaic) Livestock in general.
Word family
- cattleless
- catalo
- cattalo
- cattleman
- Australian cattle dog
- cattle call
- cattle car
- cattle grub
Related words
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press