page_title: Cattle
section_title: Word use
hierarchical_section_title: Cattle / Word use
caption_attribution_description: Ankole-Watusi cattle at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.
context_page_description: Cattle is a word for certain mammals that belong to the genus Bos. Cattle may be cows, bulls, oxen, or calves. Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated hoofed animals. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae.
  Cattle are large grazing animals with two-toed or cloven hooves and a four-chambered stomach. This stomach is an adaptation to help digest tough grasses. Cattle can be horned or polled, depending on the breed. The horns come out on either side of the head above the ears and are a simple shape, usually curved upwards but sometimes down. Cattle usually stay together in groups called herds. One male, called a bull will usually have a number of cows in a herd as his harem. The cows usually give birth to one calf a year, though twins are also known to be born. The calves have long strong legs and can walk a few minutes after they are born, so they can follow the herd.
  Cattle are native to many parts of the world except the Americas, Australia and New Zealand. Cattle have been domesticated for about 9,000 years. They are used for milk, meat, transport, entertainment, and power.
context_section_description: The word cattle has been used in English for about 1,000 years and the meaning has changed. In books such as the King James Version of the Bible, the word is used for all sorts of farm animals, including horses, sheep and goats. The word comes from the Old French word, chattels, meaning all the things that a person owns.
  The word cattle is used for some wild animals as well as for domesticated cattle. Wild cattle include the Water Buffalo from South East Asia, the Musk Ox and Yak from Central Asia, the Bison of North America and Europe and the African Buffalo. The last Aurochs, wild cattle of Europe, were killed in Masovia, Poland in 1627.
  This article uses the word cattle in the modern way.
  This article is about the domestic farm animal, and not the wild cattle which still live in some parts of the world.
  The word "head" is used by farmers when they count the number of cattle that they own. A farmer might say "My land runs 5,000 head of cattle." A "head" means one, but the term "one head of cattle" is not usually used. It is easier to say "one cow".
caption: Watusi cattle are herded in Africa.
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