# calf
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, Northern England, Wales) enPR: käf, IPA: /kɑːf/
* (General American, Canada) enPR: kăf, IPA: /kæf/
** Audio (US):(file)
* (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA: /kɐːf/
* (Scotland, Ireland) IPA: /kaf/
* (New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Baltimore) IPA: /kɛəf/
* (dialectal, obsolete) IPA: /keɪf/
* Rhymes: -ɑːf, -æf
* Homophone: caf (some accents)

### Etymology 1

From Middle English calf, from Anglian Old English cælf, calf (West Saxon ċealf); also cognate with German Kalb (“calf”), Dutch kalf (“calf”) and Danish kalv (“calf”), from Proto-Germanic *kalbaz, further etymology unknown.

#### Noun

calf (plural calves or (nonstandard) calfs)
* A young cow or bull.
** 1917, Knut Hamsun, Growth of the Soil, Book 1, Ch.3, at p.22:
    And Goldenhorns calved. A great day in the wilderness, a joy and a delight. They gave her flour-wash, and Isak himself saw to it there was no stint of flour, though he had carried it all the way himself, on his back. And there lay a pretty calf, a beauty, red-flanked like her mother, and comically bewildered at the miracle of coming into the world. In a couple of years she would be having calves of her own.
* Leather made of the skin of the calf; especially, a fine, light-coloured leather used in bookbinding.
* A young deer, elephant, seal, whale or giraffe (also used of some other animals).
* A chunk of ice broken from a larger glacier, ice shelf, or iceberg.
** 1915 (published), 1848 (first written), Elisha Kent Kane, Adrift in the Arctic Ice Pack
    Our swell ceases with this wind, and the floes seem disposed to come together again; but the days of winter have passed by, and the interposing calves prevent the apposition of the edges
* A small island, near a larger island.
    the Calf of Man
* A cabless railroad engine.
* (informal, dated) An awkward or silly boy or young man; any silly person; a dolt.
** 1627, Michaell [i.e., Michael] Drayton, “Nimphidia. The Court of Fayrie.”, in The Battaile of Agincourt. […], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for William Lee, […], →OCLC:some silly, doating, brainless calf

##### Synonyms

* bullet (rare); cowlet, cowling; moggy (Midlands, now rare)

##### Derived terms

* box calf
* bull-calf
* bull calf
* bum calf
* calfbound
* calfdozer
* calf eyes
* calfflesh
* calfhide
* calfhood
* calfish
* calfless
* calflick
* calflike
* calfling
* calf love
* calfskin
* calfy
* cow calf
* cow-calf
* divinity calf
* elephant calf
* golden calf
* haircalf
* heifer calf
* in-calf
* in calf
* killcalf
* kill the fatted calf
* law calf
* mooncalf
* moon-calf
* reindeer calf
* Russia calf
* sea calf
* seacalf
* sea-calf
* seal calf
* tree calf
* water buffalo calf

##### Related terms

* calve

##### Translations

Afar: ruga
Afrikaans: kalf (af)
Akkadian: 𒀫 (būru)
Albanian: viç (sq)
Arabic: عِجْل (ar) m (ʕijl)
Egyptian Arabic: عجل m (ʕegl)
Aragonese: vetiello, vediello
Aramaic:
Classical Syriac: ܥܶܓܠܳܐ m (ʿeglā), ܐܰܪܘܳܢܳܐ m (ʾarwanā)
Armenian: հորթ (hy) (hortʻ)
Aromanian: yitsãl
Asturian: xatu (ast) m, xata (ast) f
Azerbaijani: dana (az), buzov (az)
Bashkir: быҙау (bıźaw)
Basque: zekor
Belarusian: цяля́ (be) n (cjaljá), цялё n (cjaljó)
Bhojpuri: बछड़ा (bachᵊṛā)
Breton: leue (br) pl
Bulgarian: теле́ (bg) n (telé)
Burmese: နွားကလေး (nwa:ka.le:)
Carpathian Rusyn: теля́ n (teljá)
Catalan: vedell (ca) m, vedella (ca) f
Cebuano: nati
Central Dusun: tananak
Chechen: эса (esa)
Cherokee: ᏩᎧᎠᎩᎾ (wakaagina)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 牛仔 (ngau$^4$ zai$^2$)
Eastern Min: 牛囝 (ngù-giāng)
Mandarin: 小牛 (zh) (xiǎoniú), 犢 / 犊 (zh) (dú), 牛犢 / 牛犊 (zh) (niúdú)
Chuvash: пӑру (păru)
Cimbrian: büssalle f
Coptic: ⲙⲁⲥⲉ (mase)
Cornish: leugh m
Czech: tele (cs) n
Danish: kalv (da) c
Dutch: kalf (nl) n
Egyptian: (bḥz m), (rny m), (ms m)
Eshtehardi: جینگَ m (jinga), دوگیَه f (dugiya)
Esperanto: bovido, virbovido (male), bovidino (female)
Estonian: vasikas (et)
Faroese: kálvur m
Finnish: vasikka (fi)
French: veau (fr) m, velle (fr) f
Friulian: vidiel m
Galician: xuvenco m, xato (gl) m, cuxo (gl) m, cucho (gl) m, pucho (gl) m, camoniño m, becerro (gl) m, tenreiro (gl) m, vitela (gl) f
Georgian: ხბო (ka) (xbo)
German: Kalb (de) n, Bullenkalb n (male), Kuhkalb n (female)
Alemannic German: Chalp n
Greek: μοσχάρι (el) n (moschári)
Ancient: μόσχος m or f (móskhos)
Hebrew: עגל / עֵגֶל (he) m (égel)
Hindi: बछिया f (bachiyā), बछड़ा (hi) (bachṛā)
Hungarian: borjú (hu)
Icelandic: kálfur (is) m
Ido: bovyuno (io), bovyunulo (io) (male), bovyunino (io) (female)
Ingrian: lehmävasikka, muko
Ingush: ӏаса (ˀasa)
Irish: lao m, gamhain m
Old Irish: dartaid m, lóeg m
Isnag: kixaw
Italian: vitello (it) m
Japanese: 子牛 (ja) (こうし, koushi)
Jeju: 송애기 (song'aegi)
Kannada: ಕರು (kn) (karu)
Kashmiri: وۆژھ m (voċh), وَژھٕر f (vaċhụr)
Kazakh: балтыр (baltyr), бұзау (būzau)
Khmer: កូនគោ (koon koo)
Korean: 송아지 (ko) (song'aji)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: گوێرەکە (gwêreke), گوێلِک (gwêlik)
Laki: گوەر (ku) (gwer)
Northern Kurdish: golik (ku) m or f
Southern Kurdish: گوور (gûr)
Latgalian: teļš
Latin: vitulus m, vitula f, vitellus m, vitella f
Latvian: teļš, telēns m
Ligurian: vitéllo m, vitélla f
Lithuanian: veršiukas m
Low German:
German Low German: Kalf n
Luhya: emosi
Luo: nyaroya
Luxembourgish: Kallef (lb) n
Macedonian: теле (mk) n (tele)
Malagasy: zanak'omby (mg)
Malay: anak lembu
Maltese: għoġol m, erħa f
Manx: lheiy m
Maori: kāwhe
Megleno-Romanian: vițǫl m
Mon: ကောန်ဂၠဴ (mnw)
Mongolian: тугал (mn) (tugal)
Nandi: moi
Nepali: बाच्छो m (bāccho), बाच्छी f (bācchī)
Ngazidja Comorian: mna-mɓe class 1/2
Norman: vieau m
North Frisian: kuulew n (Mooring dialect), kualew n (Föhr-Amrum)
Northern Sami: gálbi
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kalv (no) m
Nynorsk: kalv m
Occitan: vedèl (oc) m, vedèla (oc) f
Old Church Slavonic: тельць m (telĭcĭ)
Old English: ċealf n
Old Turkic: 𐰉𐰆𐰕𐰍𐰆 (b¹uzǧu /⁠buzaɣu⁠/)
Oromo: jaabi
Ottoman Turkish: بوزاغو (buzağı)
Pali: vaccha m
Pashto: سخی (ps) m (sxay)
Persian: گوساله (fa) (gusâle)
Piedmontese: vailet m
Plautdietsch: Kaulf n
Polish: cielę (pl) n
Portuguese: bezerro (pt) m, terneiro (pt) m, novilho (pt) m, bezerra (pt) f, terneira (pt) f, novilha (pt) f
Romanian: vițel (ro) m, vițea (ro) f
Romansch: vadè m
Russian: телёнок (ru) m (teljónok), теле́ц (ru) m (teléc) (dated or poetic)
Saho: ruga
Sanskrit: गोवत्स (sa) m (govatsa), वत्स (sa) (vatsa)
Scots: cauf
Scottish Gaelic: laogh (gd) m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: теле n
Latin: tele (sh) n
Seri: noiiyo
Sicilian: jencu (scn) m, viteḍḍu m
Slovak: teľa (sk) n
Slovene: tele (sl) n
Somali: weyl
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: śele n
Upper Sorbian: ćelo n
Spanish: becerro (es) m, becerra (es) f, ternero (es) m, ternera (es) f, vaquilla (es) f
Sumerian: 𒀫 (AMAR)
Swahili: ndama (sw)
Swedish: kalv (sv) c
Tagalog: guya
Tamil: கன்று (ta) (kaṉṟu)
Tarifit: ayenduz m
Tok Pisin: pikinini bulmakau
Tswana: namane
Turkish: dana (tr), buzağı (tr)
Ugaritic: 𐎓𐎂𐎍 (ʿgl)
Ukrainian: теля́ n (teljá), теля́тко n (teljátko)
Urdu: بچھیا f (bachiyā)
Uyghur: موزاي (mozay), توپاق (topaq) (two-year-old), تايىنچا (tayincha) (two-year-old)
Venetan: vedèl (vec) m, vedèƚo m, vedeło m
Vietnamese: bê (vi)
Volapük: bubül (vo), sugabubül (unweaned)
Welsh: llo (cy) m
West Frisian: keal n
Wolof: séll wi (wo)
Yiddish: קאַלב n (kalb)
Yoruba: ẹgbọ̀rọ̀, ọmọ mààlúù
Zazaki: nal f, gol (diq) m :
    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### See also

* bull
* cow
* veal

### Etymology 2

From Middle English calf, kalf, from Old Norse kalfi, possibly derived from the same Germanic root as English calf (“young cow”) (above). Cognate with Icelandic kálfi (“calf of the leg”).

#### Noun

calf (plural calves)
* (anatomy) The back of the leg below the knee.
* The muscle in the back of the leg below the knee.
** 1988, Steve Holman, “Christian Conquers Columbus”, in Ironman, 47 (6): 28-34:Sure, his calves are a little weak, but the rest of his physique is so overwhelming, he should place high.

##### Derived terms

* calf bone
* calf-length
* calfless
* calf raise
* cankle
* midcalf

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

#### References

* ↑ Bingham, Caleb (1808) “Improprieties in Pronunciation, common among the people of New-England”, in The Child's Companion; Being a Conciſe Spelling-book […] ‎, 12th edition, Boston: Manning & Loring, →OCLC, page 74.
* ↑ Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*kalbiz-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 278

### Anagrams

* CLAF, FLAC

## Middle Dutch
### Etymology

From Old Dutch calf, from Proto-Germanic *kalbaz.

### Noun

calf n
* calf

#### Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

#### Descendants

* Dutch: kalf
* Limburgish: kalf

### Further reading

* “calf”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
* Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “calf”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

## Middle English
### Etymology 1

From Anglian Old English calf, cælf (West Saxon ċealf), Proto-West Germanic *kalb, from Proto-Germanic *kalbaz.

#### Alternative forms

* calfe, chalf, chalve, chelve, kelf, kalf

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kalf/, /t͡ʃalf/

#### Noun

calf (plural calver(e) or calveren or calves)
* calf (cow that has not fully matured)
** c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎, published c. 1410, Apocalips 4:7, page 118v, column 2; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:⁊ þe firſte beeſte .· liyk a lioun / ⁊ þe ſecounde beeſte .· lijk a calf / ⁊ þe þꝛidde beeſte .· hauynge a face as of a man / ⁊ þe fourþe beeſte .· liyk an egle fleyngeAnd the first beast [was] like a lion; and the second beast [was] like a calf; and the third beast had a face like a human; and the fourth beast [was] like an eagle flying.
* A representation of a calf; something that looks like a calf.
* fawn (deer that has not fully matured)
* (rare) Veal; the meat of calves.

##### Descendants

* English: calf
* Scots: cauf, cawf, caff, calf
* Yola: callef, calef, calluf

##### References

* “calf, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-17.

### Etymology 2

From Old Norse kalfi.

#### Alternative forms

* calfe

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈkalf(ə)/

#### Noun

calf (plural calves)
* calf (part of the leg).

##### Descendants

* English: calf
* Scots: cauf

##### References

* “calf, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-17.

## Old Dutch
### Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *kalbaz.

### Noun

calf n
* calf

#### Descendants

* Middle Dutch: calf
** Dutch: kalf
** Limburgish: kalf

#### Further reading

* “kalf”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

## Old English
### Noun

calf n
* Alternative form of ċealf

## Scots
### Etymology 1

From Middle English calf (“young cow”).

#### Noun

calf
* Alternative form of cauf (“calf (young cow)”)

### Etymology 2

From Middle English caf, caff, kaf, kaff, alternative forms of chaf.

#### Noun

calf
* Alternative form of caff