veal

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English vel, also veel,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman vel, also veel,^{[5][6][7][8][9]} from Old French veel (“a calf”) (12th century, modern veau), earlier vedel,^[9][6][5] from Latin vitellus (“little calf”), a diminutive of vitulus (“calf”).^{[9][10][5][11][12]} The Anglo-Norman word, recorded from the early 12th century, meant a calf, veal, a bullock, a young deer or calfskin.^[13] The Latin word is also the source of vitello and vitelo.^[5] Vitulus perhaps first meant "yearling", if it is related to Ancient Greek ἔτος (étos, “year”),^{[14][4][15][9]} and Klein connects it with Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌸𐍂𐌿𐍃 (wiþrus), Old English weðer (“wether”) and vetus (“old”), from an Indo-European base Proto-Indo-European *wet- (“year”).^[4][10][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The flesh of a calf as food: about 1386, in Chaucer's Merchant's Tale.^[5][6] Etymonline dates the word to the early 14th century.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Weekley compares beef, mutton and pork, other French names adopted in English for the meat of an animal.^[15] Veal was also used for the calf itself from 1422,^[5] and Weekley notes that this use lasted into the 18th century;^[15] it is now rare,^[5][8] though Wright recorded it in Scotland, Yorkshire and America.^[16] Johnson (1755) defined it as the flesh of a calf killed for the table, quoting Gay.^[17] The verb, to kill and dress a calf for veal, dates from about 1901,^[2] and in the US slang of 1922 a veal was a flapper who set out to vamp with malice.^[18] From the Old French veel came velin, calfskin for writing on, the source of vellum.^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1386 – the flesh of a calf as food.^[5][6] Etymonline dates the word to the early 14th century.^[9]
• 1422 – a calf, especially one killed for food.^[5]
• c. 1901 – verb, to kill and dress a calf for veal.^[2]
• 1922 – US slang, a flirtatious flapper.^[18]

Meanings

Noun

1. The flesh of a calf, eaten as meat: a dish of veal with lemon and capers.^[12][2][5]
2. A calf, especially one raised for food; also called a veal calf.^[12][2][5]

Verb

1. To kill and dress a calf for veal.^[2]
2. To raise calves for veal.^[8][5]

Word family

• vealer
• vealy

Related words

• vellum
• wether
• veteran
• veterinary
• etesian

Usage notes

A separate mining word veal, recorded from 1883, is of uncertain origin; the OED suggests it may be the same word, from a resemblance to a calf.^[5] The related adjective for calves is vituline.^[12]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
14. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
15. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
16. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
17. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
18. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com