# Cattle (singular) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2000, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355 "2000-01-18T04:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sputnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Sputnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sputnik)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/1 "2000-01-18T04:05:00Z")
What’s the singular NON-GENDER SPECIFIC word for the animal we make into hamburger? Is there one? ---
**Author:** ![neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neuro-trash_grrrl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/2 "2000-01-18T04:20:00Z")
Cecil covered this in one of his columns. I’m too lazy to use the search engine and find it, though. If I remember correctly, the only word that he could come up with is a word in common usage in Maritime Canada: “cattlebeast”. I rather like this word, and often use it myself, but not being from Canada, I’m the only one I know who does. * * * An infinite number of rednecks in an infinite number of pickup trucks shooting an infinite number of shotguns at an infinite number of road signs will eventually produce all the world’s great works of literature in Braille. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/3 "2000-01-18T04:33:00Z")
From Webster: Main Entry: 1 **cow** Pronunciation: 'kau Function: noun Etymology: Middle English cou, from Old English cu; akin to Old High German kuo cow, Latin bos head of cattle, Greek bous, Sanskrit go Date: before 12th century 1 a : the mature female of cattle (genus Bos) b : the mature female of various usually large animals (as an elephant, whale, or moose) 2 : a domestic bovine animal _regardless of sex_\* or age ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/4 "2000-01-18T04:34:00Z")
Darn it. Try: 2 : a domestic bovine animal _regardless of sex_ or age ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/5 "2000-01-18T04:37:00Z")
Boy! Rackin’ up the posts on this one! This raises a question in my mind: Does the meat industry make any distinction based on the sex of the carcass? ---
**Author:** ![Bluepony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Bluepony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bluepony)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/6 "2000-01-18T04:41:00Z")
Kangaroo. From the Aboriginal term “Kanga” (meaning “golden”, or “made of gold”) and “Roo” (meaning “that which arches” or “Arches”) * * * “…send lawyers, guns, and money…” ``` Warren Zevon ``` ---
**Author:** ![Imthecowgodmoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Imthecowgodmoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imthecowgodmoo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/7 "2000-01-18T06:20:00Z")
Hell if I know. Some dopers still think I’m a girl. hmmm… Imthecattlebeastgodmoo… doesn’t really have the same ring to it * * * “People must think it must be fun to be a super genuis, But they don’t realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.” – Calvin and Hobbes (\_\_) _/_ ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/8 "2000-01-18T10:41:00Z")
“This raises a question in my mind: Does the meat industry make any distinction based on the sex of the carcass?”… No ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/9 "2000-01-18T12:58:00Z")
This ranks right up there with the -gry word question. The answer, as noted above, is _cow_. It just happens in this case that the non-gender specific term also happens to be the female specific term. This is slightly unusual because in many cases the male specific term is used, e.g., _man, moose, bear_, although there are other female terms which enjoy the same status, e.g. _duck, goose, chicken_. If the intention of the OP is to point out an inconsistency in the English language, hooray, you win! Sometimes we have to use odd constructs like “female cow” to be perfectly clear. Small price to pay, IMHO. * * * “To do her justice, I can’t see that she could have found anything nastier to say if she’d thought it out with both hands for a fortnight.” Dorothy L. Sayers _Busman’s Honeymoon_ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/10 "2000-01-18T15:24:00Z")
I asked a dairyman this very question. Because he’s concerned with milk production, he may have his own set of prejudices, but he prefers the simple term “cattle” – singular as well as plural. The packing industry doesn’t much care about the sex of the animal, but they care a lot about the size and grade of the beef. Cows (female) are generally used for breeding and/or milk production. They don’t go to the packer until they have outlived those functions, so their beef tends to be tougher, and fit for only “utility” grades. Steers (used to be male) are slaughtered as soon as they reach full growth, and their beef is more tender. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/11 "2000-01-18T15:41:00Z")
Oh, I dunno **pluto**. I didn’t know the answer; I thought one future steak of indeterminate sex was a cattle. ‘Course I didn’t really care, but I guess my point is that the question didn’t strike me as trollish. * * * Livin’ on Tums, vitamin E and Rogaine ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/12 "2000-01-19T06:06:00Z")
My father once got around a deed restriction prhibiting cows and bulls by keeping a steer for slaughter. When a neighbor confronted him they asked the livestock inspector instead of looking at a dictionary. Fortunately he agreed with my father that a steer was not a cow. * * * Come let us go, I’ve a cask of amontillado. ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/13 "2000-01-19T06:16:00Z")
A little more than beeves, and less than kine? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/14 "2000-01-19T06:58:00Z")
or all-dressed with a little beef authority? * * * and the stars o’erhead were dancing heel to toe ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/15 "2000-01-18T20:15:00Z")
Not that this has anything to do with the OP except tangentially, but a female cow that is sterile for one reason or another (either naturally or manmade) is called a freemartin. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/16 "2000-01-18T20:56:00Z")
I have to state for the record that I have never heard the term _cattle_ used in the singular, e.g, “I saw a cattle eating some hay today.”. My _Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary_ lists the word as a neuter plural with no singular definition. Those who contend that cattle is the singular neuter term obviously move in different circles than me. But that’s what make the world go around, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/17 "2000-01-18T20:59:00Z")
Or, that’s what **makes** the world go around. That’s what I get for trying to be non-confrontational when I’m really thinking that anybody who says “a cattle” is an uneducated slob. Which is what makes **my** world go around. I think I’ll add a smiley just to piss off Chief Scott! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/18 "2000-01-19T03:15:00Z")
NTG, you can find the cattle/cow discussion under [Do McDonald’s milkshakes contain seaweed?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_097b.html) (Also on pages 98-101 of _Return of the Straight Dope_.) * * * Your Official Cat Goddess since 10/20/99. “We are here! You are saved!” --R. & F. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/19 "2000-01-19T04:43:00Z")
Actually, I thought that since cat_tle_ was plural, the singular was cat. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355/20 "2000-01-20T06:07:00Z")
And, of course, “cattle” actually means domestic critters in general, not just the genus Bos. The last words of the book of Jonah, “and also much cattle,” in the KJV, became, “to say nothing of all the animals,” in the Jerusalem Bible. (This has happened in other cases. “Corn” means grain in general – usually wheat in England and oats in Scotland, but in America it has come to mean maize. “Deer” meant any wild animal – like German _Tier_ – but came to mean the most interesting animal to hunt – and there’s an opposite case: England distinguishes among “stalking” on foot, “shooting” from a blind, and “hunting” on horseback, but America uses “hunting” for all three.) (For that matter, “man” is the non-gender-specific word. The male-specific word is “were”, as in “werewolf”, but for unknown reasons, it vanished from English, except in a handful of combinations.) * * * John W. Kennedy “Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.” – Charles Williams [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cattle-singular/6355.md?page=2)