Calf Definition

kăf, käf
calfs, calves
noun
calves
A young cow or bull.
Webster's New World
The young of some other large animals, as the elephant, whale, hippopotamus, seal, etc.
Webster's New World
Leather from the hide of a calf; calfskin.
Webster's New World
A large piece of ice broken off from an iceberg or coast glacier.
Webster's New World
An awkward, callow, or silly youth.
Webster's New World
idiom
kill the fatted calf
  • to make a feast of celebration or welcome: Luke 15:23
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Calf

Noun

Singular:
calf
Plural:
calves

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Calf

Origin of Calf

  • 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”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English from Old Norse kālfi possibly akin to calf (from its shape)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Old Norse kalfi, possibly derived from the same Germanic root as calf (“young cow”) (above).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English from Old English cealf

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to calf using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

calf