- Calf means a baby cow.
The small cow nursing from the mother cow is an example of a calf.
- Calf means the baby of a large mammal like a seal or elephant.
The little whale swimming alongside its mother is an example of calf.
- Calf means the back part of the lower leg.
The part of the body accentuated by high heels is an example of calf.
A mother cow with two calves.
calf
noun
pl. calves, calfs- a young cow or bull
- the young of some other large animals, as the elephant, whale, hippopotamus, seal, etc.
- a large piece of ice broken off from an iceberg or coast glacier
- leather from the hide of a calf; calfskin
- Informal an awkward, callow, or silly youth
Origin of calf
Middle English ; from Old English cealf and amp; Old Norse kalfr ; from Indo-European an unverified form geleb(h)- ; from base an unverified form gel-, to swell, form a ball (hence swelling, fetus, offspring) from source club, Classical Latin globuskill the fatted calf
noun
pl. calvesOrigin of calf
Middle English ; from Old Norse kalfi; akin to kalfr, calfcalf
noun
pl. calves calves- a. A young cow or bull.b. One of the young of certain other mammals, such as moose, elephants, or whales.
- Calfskin leather.
- A large floating chunk of ice split off from a glacier, iceberg, or floe.
- An awkward, callow youth.
Origin of calf
Middle English, from Old English cealf.
noun
pl. calves calvesOrigin of calf
Middle English, from Old Norse kālfi; possibly akin to calf1 (from its shape).calf
(plural calves or calfs)
- A young cow or bull.
- Leather made of the skin of the calf; especially, a fine, light-coloured leather used in bookbinding.
- A young elephant, seal or whale (also used of some other animals).
- A chunk of ice broken off of a larger glacier, ice shelf, or iceberg.
- A small island, near a larger island.
- the Calf of Man
- A cabless railroad engine.
- (informal, dated) An awkward or silly boy or young man; any silly person; a dolt.
From Old English cealf, from Proto-Germanic *kalbaz (compare Dutch kalf, German Kalb, Danish kalv), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷolbʰo 'womb, animal young' (compare Ancient Greek (Hesychius) δολφός (dolphós) 'womb', Avestan garəwa [script?] 'uterus', Sanskrit गर्भ (gárbha) 'womb'), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to swell”).
A cow and calf
(plural calves or calfs)
Old Norse kalfi, possibly derived from the same Germanic root as calf (“young cow”) (above).
Calf of the leg