cattle

plural noun

cat·​tle ˈka-tᵊl How to pronounce cattle (audio)
Synonyms of cattlenext
1
: domesticated quadrupeds held as property or raised for use
specifically : bovine animals on a farm or ranch
2
: human beings especially en masse

Examples of cattle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Ventura County Animal Services said 115 horses, five ponies, three donkeys, seven sheep, 33 goats, four mini horses, one cattle, and 20 alpacas are being sheltered Friday as evacuees. —Dennis Romero, NBC News, 9 Nov. 2024 The farmers’ quarrels with vampires make sense, especially in smaller cattle herds, where losing even one cow can significantly hurt a farmer’s livelihood. —Sebastian Stockmaier, Discover Magazine, 31 Oct. 2024 Specifically, cattle and other ruminants are a huge source of methane. —Frida Garza, WIRED, 19 Oct. 2024 It’s finally slated to open in 2026 to commemorate the nearly 50,000 Greek Jews who were loaded onto cattle trucks in Thessaloniki and transported to Auschwitz during the Nazi occupation of Greece. —George Nelson, ARTnews.com, 5 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for cattle 

Word History

Etymology

Middle English catel, cadel "property (whether real or personal), goods, treasure, livestock, (in plural cateles) possessions," borrowed from Anglo-French katil "property, goods, wealth," borrowed from medieval French (dialects of Picardy and French Flanders) catel, going back to Medieval Latin capitāle "movable property, riches," (in Anglo-Saxon law texts) "head of cattle," noun derivative from neuter of capitālis "of the head, chief, principal" — more at capital entry 1

Note: Note that the spelling cattle is uncommon before the eighteenth century. Anglo-French katil is a variant of chatel—see chattel, which is a doublet of this word. Though the variant with [k] is rare in Anglo-French, catel is frequent and used almost interchangeably with chatel in Middle English. The sense "livestock," however, is only attached to catel, to judge from citations in the Middle English Dictionary. — Regarding the meaning "movable property, riches" of capitālis see the note at capital entry 2.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of cattle was in the 14th century

Phrases Containing cattle

Dictionary Entries Near cattle

cattish

cattle

cattlebush

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Cattle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cattle. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.

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Kids Definition

cattle

noun
cat·​tle ˈkat-ᵊl How to pronounce cattle (audio)
plural cattle
: domestic four-footed animals held as property or raised for use
especially : bovine animals (as cows, bulls, or steers) kept on a farm or ranch
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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