cattle

plural noun

cat·​tle ˈka-tᵊl 

1

: domesticated quadrupeds held as property or raised for use

specifically : bovine animals on a farm or ranch

2

: human beings especially en masse

Examples of cattle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Yellowstone revolves around the Dutton family who controls the largest contiguous cattle ranch in the United States. —Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 11 Dec. 2024

Thompson doesn’t think the higher risk rating is fair — those lands often are used for cattle grazing and hay farming, which keeps combustible fuels in check. —Jovi Dai, The Mercury News, 8 Dec. 2024

Herd owners with positive cattle will also be required to provide epidemiological information for contact tracing and disease surveillance. —April Rubin, Axios, 6 Dec. 2024

Since this bird flu was first detected among cattle in March 2024, the virus has spread to at least 440 dairy herds in 15 U.S. states, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. —Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024

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.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing cattle

• Australian cattle dog
• beef cattle
• cattle call
• cattle egret
• cattle grid
• cattle grub
• cattle guard
• cattle prod
• cattle tick
• common cattle grub
• dairy cattle
• short-nosed cattle louse

Kids Definition

cattle

noun

cat·​tle ˈkat-ᵊl 

plural cattle

: domestic four-footed animals held as property or raised for use

especially : bovine animals (as cows, bulls, or steers) kept on a farm or ranch