heifer

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“
A certain man at his death left his son, then a child, a cow-calf, which wandered in the desert till he came to age; at which time his mother told him the heifer was his, and bid him fetch her, and sell her for three pieces of gold.

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Definitions (5)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun A young cow, especially one that has not yet given birth to a calf.

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Examples

  • The command of the red heifer, a part of the law which was particularly subject to attack, emphasizes the law of moral as well as of physical cleanliness. —  Philo-Judaeus of Alexandria
  • A certain man at his death left his son, then a child, a cow-calf, which wandered in the desert till he came to age; at which time his mother told him the heifer was his, and bid him fetch her, and sell her for three pieces of gold. —  The Koran (Al-Qur'an)
  • "There's only one, after all," said Jacob; "I suppose the heifer is his favorite. —  The Children of the New Forest
  • "There's only one, after all," said Jacob; "I suppose the heifer is his favourite. —  The Children of the New Forest
  • Then Zeus changed the maiden into a heifer, to save her from the anger of Here, but presently Here learned that the heifer was the maiden whom she hated, and she went to Zeus, and said, —  Museum of Antiquity A Description of Ancient Life
 

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Heifer has been looked up 307 times, favorited 0 times, listed 15 times, and commented on twice.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old English hēahfore; see perə-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Early modern English also haifer, and with orig. guttural heighfer, heckfer, heckfere, heckfar, heckfare, heckfor, heckford, heeforde, etc., corruptly hawgher (Caxton); English dial. also transposed heifker; from Middle English hayfare, hekfere, hekefere, from Anglo-Saxon heáhfore, also heáhfru (genitive heáhfore, accusative heáhfre), Old Northumbrian plural hēhfaro, a heifer; an isolated word, apparently a compound, from heáh, high, + -fore, -fare, a supposed feminine form (equivalent to D. vaars, also in comp. vaarkoe (Dutch koe = English cow) = Middle Low German verse = Middle High German verse, German färse, a heifer). from fearr, Old Northumbrian far = Middle Dutch varre, Dutch var = Old High German farro, far, Middle High German varre, var, German farre = Icelandic farri, a bullock (Teutonic stem *fars); prob. allied to Greek πόρις, πόρτις, a heifer: see farrow, a. The prefix heáh, ‘high,’ is taken to mean ‘full-grown’ (Skeat), but a heifer is not full-grown. The Anglo-Saxon form is generally glossed by L. altile, or Middle Latin altilium, a fatted calf (also applied to other fatted animals), from Latin altilis, adjective, fatted, from alere, nourish, feed, suggesting that Anglo-Saxon heáh in heáhfore is an awkward translation, meaning ‘high-fed,’ of Latin altilis, or simply of the related L. altus, high, literally ‘grown,’ from alere, nourish, feed: see alt, altitude, etc., and old. But this is uncertain. The peculiar Middle English forms would seem to favor a connection with D. hokkeling, German hockling, a yearling calf, apparently from Dutch hok, a stall, pen, + diminutive -ling; but the change of Anglo-Saxon heáh to heck- is supported by hock, in hockday, from the same Anglo-Saxon heáh.
 

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/ˈhɛfɛr/
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