heifer
[hef-er]
- a young cow over one year old that has not produced a calf.
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Origin of heifer
before 900; Middle English hayfre, Old English hēa(h)f(o)re, equivalent to hēah high + -fore; akin to Greek póris heifer
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for heifer
Contemporary Examples
"You and Chuck go home and make a baby and name it Lyndon and I'll give you a heifer," Johnson had said.
When ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper tried to ask you some questions, you said you were “going to meet a heifer first.”
Historical Examples
Then the girl took the flax and drove the heifer out to graze.
Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk TalesAnonymous
Then she drove the heifer home, and gave the cloth to her stepmother.
Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk TalesAnonymous
So the heifer began to graze, but the girl sat down and began to weep.
Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk TalesAnonymous
Then she drove the heifer home 148 and gave the cloth to her stepmother.
Cossack Fairy Tales and Folk TalesAnonymous
In view of Nannar's position in the heavens, he was called the "heifer of Anu."
The Religion of Babylonia and AssyriaMorris Jastrow
heifer
- a young cow
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Word Origin
Old English heahfore; related to Greek poris calf; see high
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for heifer
n.
Old English heahfore, West Saxon; Northumbrian hehfaro, heffera (plural), of unknown origin, not found outside English. The first element seems to be heah "high," common in Old English compounds with a sense of "great in size." The second element may be related to Old English fearr "bull," or to Old English faran "to go" (giving the whole a sense of "high-stepper"); but there are serious sense difficulties with both conjectures. Liberman offers this alternative:
Old English seems to have had the word *hægfore 'heifer.' The first element (*hæg-) presumably meant 'enclosure' (as do haw and hedge), whereas -fore was a suffix meaning 'dweller, occupant' ....
In modern use, "a female that has not yet calved," as opposed to a cow, which has calved, and a calf, which is an animal of either sex not more than a year old. As derisive slang for "a woman, girl" it dates from 1835.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper