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cattle

UK/ˈkætəl/ US/ˈkʰætʰəl] ~ [ˈkʰætʰl̩/ common slang

noun

1.

domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age

  • “so many head of cattle”
  • “wait till the cows come home”
  • “seven thin and ill-favored kine” Bible
  • “a team of oxen”
Synonyms

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • all hat and no cattle
  • ant cattle
  • Australian cattle dog
  • black cattle
  • cattle beast
  • cattle cake
  • cattle call
  • cattle car

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.