# What exactly are oxen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089 "2003-09-12T00:23:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![quiltguy154](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ad7895/32.png) [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089/21 "2003-09-13T15:46:28Z")
KINI ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089/22 "2003-09-13T19:19:08Z")
Where I grew up we said, “There’s a cow.” for the singular of any such creature that we saw out in a pasture regardless of sex. That usage is supported by Merriam-Webster _Collegiate_ definition no. 3 for “cow” - “a domestic bovine animal regardless of sex or age.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089/23 "2003-09-13T20:35:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sternvogel \* > \*\*The linked column also includes this quote by Robin NiDana: _Cow may be the last word left which means both “female animal” and “generic animal.”_ She obviously didn’t think of “duck”, which is used to mean a mallard, teal, etc., of either sex, as well as the female counterpart of a drake. \*\* It’s true of other birds as well: Duck: drake (male), duck (female) Goose: gander (male), goose (female) Falcon: tercel (male), falcon (female) ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089/24 "2003-09-14T00:05:35Z")
> [@](#): > > In Australia the term bullock was used in preference to ox. Steers over 2yo were referred to as bullocks. Bullock teams were draught animals that pulled drays or (totally inconsistently) ox carts. That may be true in some areas of Australia, but certainly not all. The general usage in Australia, and the rest of the English speaking world, is that a steer is castrated prior to sexual maturity. A bullock is castrated after sexual maturity, often after 18 months. The idea behind using bullocks for draught animals is that the animal develops the muscle mass and strength of a bull, but that castration makes them far more tractable, both highly desirable features. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089/25 "2003-09-14T06:30:05Z")
A beef also has historical precedent behind it. I think John Donne or someone of his vintage used the term beef as a singular generic term for a bovine anmial. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089/26 "2003-09-14T14:23:58Z")
So, how does ‘heifer’ fit into the scheme? What’s the male equivalent? Females: calf - heifer - cow Intact males: calf - ? - bull Castrates: calf - steer - oxen Or is this a case of something being so rare (since the vast majority of males are castarated) that there just isn’t a specific word? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089/27 "2003-09-14T16:15:40Z")
A heifer is a female who has not yet been bred and had a calf. I’ve never heard a male equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2003, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089/28 "2003-09-15T00:05:44Z")
It’s not quite that simple **StarvingButStrong**. Females are technically considered heifers until they drop there first calf, or are at least mated. It’s possible to have a 17 yo heifer. Castrated calves are still either steers or just calves. If they are castrated berfore maturity they remain steers until they die. It’s not an age thing. Enitire males start out as bul calves or bobbies ddepending on where and what for. They just prgress as entires until they become bulls at maturity. There has never been any real need to distingush between a virgin and non-virgin bull since it doens’t affect there eating quality and so no specific terms to differentiate ever developed, ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089/29 "2003-09-15T15:02:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blake \* > \*\*…castration makes them far more tractable, both highly desirable features. \*\* So remember that, the next time someone tells you you’re as strong as an ox. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089/30 "2003-09-15T15:18:33Z")
The human equivilant of “heifer” would be virgin, which, now that I think about it, is a unisex term… ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089/31 "2003-09-15T15:25:56Z")
Although, there is something called a “first-calf heifer”, which is a cow which has just had her first calf, but hasn’t started being milked for production yet. Generally this term is used when buying or selling. But the term has always had sort of the flavor of “born-again virgin”… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089/32 "2003-09-15T16:17:29Z")
“Stud” is just a generic term for a male animal of any species which is kept for purposes of breeding, so I don’t think we can count that as the male form of “dog” (for the curious, I think that the female non-species-specific equivalent is “slut”). And “kine”, “bovine”, or “beef” will all work for a singular _Bos_, but none of them is the singular of “cattle”. “Kine” is the singular of “kine”, “bovine” is the singular of “bovines”, and “beef” is the singular of “beeves”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-are-oxen/201089.md?page=1)