A young female sheep, especially a ewe lamb in her first year or before her first shearing.
From Old English 'cilf' or 'cild,' related to words meaning 'calf' or 'young animal.' The term has been used in English pastoral and agricultural vocabulary for over a thousand years.
Medieval shepherds had totally different names for sheep at every stage of life—a 'chilver' grows into a 'teg' then a 'ewe'—it's like a detailed naming system that shows how intimately farmers knew their animals!
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