cattle
Americannoun
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bovine animals, especially domesticated members of the genus Bos.
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Bible. such animals together with other domesticated quadrupeds, as horses, swine, etc.
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Disparaging. human beings, especially in a large, unruly crowd.
noun
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bovid mammals of the tribe Bovini (bovines), esp those of the genus Bos
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Also called: domestic cattle. any domesticated bovine mammals, esp those of the species Bos taurus (domestic ox)
Other Word Forms
- cattleless adjective
Etymology
Origin of cattle
1175–1225; Middle English catel < Old North French: (personal) property < Medieval Latin capitāle wealth; capital 1
Explanation
Use the word cattle to talk about a group of cows. A farmer might build a new fence to keep her cattle more safely secured in their pasture. Cattle usually refers to domesticated cows, almost always a large group of them. If you have a small dairy farm with only three or four cows, you'll probably call them "cows." When you're talking about a bigger operation, they're more likely to be called cattle. In the 13th century, the word simply meant "property," from the Medieval Latin capitale, "property or stock." It took about 300 years before cattle meant "cows."
Vocabulary lists containing cattle
African History - Introductory
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"The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century," Vocabulary from Chapter 5
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African History - Middle School and High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They’ve ruined the most amazing, the most beautiful place on earth,” and tweaked a popular Texas slight about someone being all hat and no cattle to describe Newsom.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026
As a result, the U.S. beef cattle inventory shrank to its lowest level since 1962, a problem that restricts beef supplies for years.
From Salon • Apr. 8, 2026
A study published in Current Biology reports the first documented case of tool use in a pet cow, suggesting that cattle may be far more cognitively capable than previously believed.
From Science Daily • Mar. 26, 2026
Darrell George Crofts was born Aug. 14, 1938, in Cisco, Texas, where his father was a cattle rancher.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
I waited for him where I knew he’d bring the cattle.
From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
