Cheval
/ʃəˈvɑːl/noun
A horse.
Did you know?French cheval comes from Latin caballus, a word for a workhorse or nag that eventually became the everyday Romance word for ‘horse,’ while the more formal equus survived in learned Latin and scientific terms.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ḱekwos
“Horse.”
Proto-Italic
Italic
*kaballos
“Horse, especially a horse used for work or riding.”
Latin
Latin
caballus
“A workhorse, nag, or horse.”
Old French
Old French
cheval
“Horse.”
Modern English
English
cheval
“A horse, especially in French contexts or set phrases.”