: domesticated quadrupeds held as property or raised for use
specifically: bovine animals on a farm or ranch
2
: human beings especially en masse
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebThe infected lettuce was grown downslope from public land where cattle grazed in the Salinas Valley in California. Kate Gibson, CBS News, 1 Sep. 2022 The Rewilding Network authors cite a 2008 study that found that cattle grazing across all public lands only accounted for two percent of beef production nationally. Wes Siler, Outside Online, 16 Aug. 2022 Mendes signed a law Thursday that allows cattle raising in the Pantanal´s private preservation areas. Fabiano Maisonnave, ajc, 6 Aug. 2022 People often try to feed the cows and other animals, and cattle often defecate near the lake’s periphery resulting in an accumulation of organic matter.Quartz, 19 July 2022 At least 2,000 cattle in Kansas died in June during a nasty heatwave. Chloe Sorvino, Forbes, 1 July 2022 At least 2,000 Kansas cattle have died in recent days amid soaring temperatures and high humidity, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Elisha Fieldstadt, NBC News, 16 June 2022 At least 2,000 cattle have died as of Tuesday, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment told ABC News. Kyla Guilfoil, ABC News, 16 June 2022 In Kansas, at least 2,000 cattle have died as a result of the heat, state officials said. Omar Abdel-baqui, WSJ, 16 June 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Middle English catel, cadel "property (whether real or personal), goods, treasure, livestock, (in plural cateles) possessions," borrowed from Anglo-French katil "property, goods, wealth," borrowed from medieval French (dialects of Picardy and French Flanders) catel, going back to Medieval Latin capitāle "movable property, riches," (in Anglo-Saxon law texts) "head of cattle," noun derivative from neuter of capitālis "of the head, chief, principal" — more at capital entry 1
Note: Note that the spelling cattle is uncommon before the eighteenth century. Anglo-French katil is a variant of chatel—see chattel, which is a doublet of this word. Though the variant with [k] is rare in Anglo-French, catel is frequent and used almost interchangeably with chatel in Middle English. The sense "livestock," however, is only attached to catel, to judge from citations in the Middle English Dictionary. — Regarding the meaning "movable property, riches" of capitālis see the note at capital entry 2.