Heifer
/ˈhɛfər/noun
A young female cow that has not yet calved.
Did you know?Heifer is historically linked to Old English and Proto-Germanic words for a young cow, and its deep ancestry is shared with words for goats and cattle in other Indo-European branches.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kapro- / *kapr-
“A male goat or horned animal (distant related cattle vocabulary in later branches)”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*hēpfrō / *heifrō
“A young female cow, heifer”
Old English
OE
hēahfore / hæfer
“Young cow; heifer”
Middle English
ME
heyfer / heffer
“Young female cow”
Modern English
English
heifer
“A young female cow that has not yet calved.”