Cow ??

[brionon]

What is the correct name for the Beef animal ? Not Cow or Cattle or Bovine !!!

[Peter Pedant]

I still think Cow which I think comes from vacca
and bovine which comes from Bos, bovis are OK

see
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2011/09/08/frankly-cattle-are-awesome/

which is good for the answer for - what did they milk before they milked cows ?

[brionon]

Both Cow and Bovine refer to several different animals.

[FredPuli43]

How do cow and bovine refer to several different animals, brionon? There is no one word specific to cattle that are raised for beef.

[Graham-W]

A castrated bull, used for beef, is a bullock.
It may be a local term but around here, in N. Yorks. we call all cattle, beasts (as in; "I'm just gunner lead the beasts down from t'field".

[AB Editor]

I would suggest "beasts" is a little broader than cow or bovine.

I would hazard "Daisy"? Although that's more likely to be a milking cow in my mind.

Do you mean the particular breed? I know the majority of UK beef is a Hereford cross.

[Peter Pedant]

well we arent being much help to Brionon,

Beast, Graham is the old word for animal

Only 'beast' occurs in the King James Version
Animal does not occur - in fact since animals so not have a soul = anima, I would be interested if anyone can explain how the meaning shifted

I give up I dont know what a beef animal is called altho I am pretty sure they get Bovine diseases - like er T B, and diseases from those cuddly lttle things called ECBO viruses

[AB Editor]

That's cross-something, not just angry.

[jno]

kine?

[Graham-W]

As far as I know kine is just a plural of cow.

[Frank97]

Steer ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle#Terminology

[Peter Pedant]

Graham - kine is a collective noun innit
Would you say in Yarkshire (arrrr): I have two kine in the byre ?

I have to say it looks like a plural in -en (or perhaps metathesis and a vowel change) along with oxen and children - Shakespeare has eyen and schoon as well, interestingly used as a dual

[Marijn]

The dictionary says Domesticated breed of ox.

[jno]

it's an old double plural, like children (cild+er+en) - cow>cy+en. But that doesn't imply that it "means" more than one cow. Cow has come to apply to different animals (eg female alligators), kine hasn't.

However, if the question is about cattle you eat vs cattle you don't, then as FredPuli says there's no word.

[weecalf]

A rose by any other name ....in this case would taste just the same

[Baldric]

That nice Mr Chambers says,

Search results for 'Cattle':
cattle plural noun 1 any of various large heavily built grass-eating mammals, including wild species, which are all horned, and domestic varieties. 2 any domesticated forms of this animal, farmed for their milk, meat and hides.

[brionon]

FredPuli43 Never heard of a Cow Elephant then ??

[Clanad]

Depends, like many other things, on the context... here in the western U.S., we live in 'cattle' ranching country as opposed to sheep, hog, llama or chinchilla ranching country.

Friend next door still milks his 'cow' by hand (twice per day) and differentiated from an acquaintence that milks her 'goat' by hand and I'm told it's a 'doe' although the expert also says since it's milked it's actually a dam.

At any rate, seems everyone knows what everyone else is talking about.

So, come to the western U.S. and you'll be introduced to 'cattle', cows, beef, longhorns (if they are, in fact of that breed) and also cash on the hoof. (Often, during the fall roundup and an honery critter takes off over the hill, the cowboy chasing it has a very special name... can't repeat it here, though). name

[mccfluff]

steak

[jno]

in old western cattle drive movies the cowboys sometimes call them beeves.