A mother cow with two calves.
- 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.
calf
noun
pl. calves or, esp. for 4, 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 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,- 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 cealfnoun
pl. calves,Origin of calf
Middle English from Old Norse kālfi possibly akin to calf 1 ( 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”).
(plural calves or calfs)
Old Norse kalfi, possibly derived from the same Germanic root as calf (“young cow”) (above).
