stallion
Americannoun
-
stallions
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of stallion
1275–1325; Middle English stalon < Old French estalon, equivalent to stal- (< Germanic; see stall 1) + -on noun suffix
Explanation
While the word stallion most often means "male horse," you can also call donkeys and zebras (as well as other horse relatives) stallions. A horse is frequently referred to as a stallion once he fathers a foal. While in most of the western world stallions are primarily kept for breeding, it is popular in parts of the Middle East and Asia for stallions to be used for riding (almost always by men). The word stallion comes from stall, referencing ancient laws requiring male breeding horses to be kept in stalls rather than allowed to wander in fields.
Vocabulary lists containing stallion
Elijah of Buxton
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In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse
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Unit 2, Week 2
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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.
See Examples For:
It said there had been issues with a stallion on the cliffs who had repeatedly escaped through a pedestrian gate.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
The horse has been used as a breeding stallion, with what its admirers say are predictably strong results.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
Crowds of men in matching tracksuits clapped in unison and waved national flags as sand-coloured stallion Hankerven, adorned with jewellery and a traditional carpet, clinched the top prize.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
Then things changed, especially with his training of Flightline, a once-in-a-generation horse who ran only six races before being sent off to a lucrative career as a stallion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2025
The big stallion nickered and tossed his head, his neck muscles rippling under his butterscotch coat.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Trainers clad in ornate uniforms and traditional white fur headgear led golden-bedecked stallions round a stage arena at an annual horse beauty pageant in the ultra-closed Central Asian state of Turkmenistan.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
"We were able to screen a worldwide collection of horse DNA samples and study where modern stallions trace their roots to," Cothran said.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 19, 2024
DNA recovered from the teeth, meanwhile, yielded another surprise: The horses were as likely to be mares as stallions, suggesting the sex of the animal was less important than thought.
From Science Magazine ● May 16, 2024
Old Friends only accepts thoroughbreds and says horses deemed at “great risk” and stallions being returned from overseas receive preference, according to its website.
From Seattle Times ● May 1, 2024
Hark, the wild wandering lines in black battalions, Heaven’s horns and hunters, dawn-bright hounds and stallions.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
