Calves

/kævz/ noun

Definition

Plural of calf, referring either to young cattle or the muscular back part of the human leg below the knee. The context determines which meaning applies.

Etymology

From Old English 'cealf' for the young animal, and a separate development for the leg muscle. The leg sense comes from the resemblance of the muscle's shape to a young calf's plump form.

Kelly Says

It's remarkable that the same word describes both baby cows and leg muscles purely by visual analogy - ancient people noticed the rounded, swollen appearance of calf muscles resembled the plump form of young cattle. This dual meaning exists in many languages, suggesting the comparison was quite universal among agricultural societies.

Translations

AMአማርኛ
ወተዶች
ARالعربية
عجول
BNবাংলা
বাছুর
CSČeština
telata
DADansk
kalve
DEDeutsch
Kälber
ELΕλληνικά
μοσχάρια
ESEspañol
terneros
FAفارسی
گوساله‌ها
FISuomi
vasikat
FRFrançais
veaux
GUGU
વાછરાં
HAHA
kaifi
HEעברית
עגלים
HIहिन्दी
बछड़े
HUMagyar
borjak
IDBahasa Indonesia
anak sapi
IGIG
ụmụ ehi
ITItaliano
vitelli
JA日本語
子牛
KKKK
бұзау
KMKM
សត្វគោ
KO한국어
송아지
MRMR
वासरे
MSBahasa Melayu
anak lembu
MYမြန်မာ
နွားငယ်
NLNederlands
kalveren
NONorsk
kalver
PAPA
ਵੱਛੇ
PLPolski
cielęta
PTPortuguês
bezerros
RORomână
viței
RUРусский
телята
SVSvenska
kalvar
SWKiswahili
ndama
TAதமிழ்
கன்றுகள்
TEతెలుగు
దూడలు
THไทย
ลูกวัว
TLTL
mga guya
TRTürkçe
buzağılar
UKУкраїнська
телята
URاردو
بچھڑے
VITiếng Việt
những con bê
YOYO
ọmọ màlúù
ZH中文
小牛
ZUZU
izinkomo

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