cow meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

cow

noun

US /kaʊ/ · Northumbria /kuː/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English cow, cou, from Old English cū (“cow”), from Proto-West Germanic *kō, from Proto-Germanic *kōz (“cow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cow”). Cognate with Sanskrit गो (go), Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs), Persian گاو (gâv)), Latvian govs (“cow”), Proto-Slavic *govędo (Serbo-Croatian govedo, Russian говядина (govjadina, “beef”), Scots coo (“cow”), North Frisian ko, kø (“cow”), West Frisian ko (“cow”), Dutch koe (“cow”), Low German Koh, Koo, Kau (“cow”), German Kuh (“cow”), Danish and Swedish ko (“cow”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk ku (“cow”), Faroese kúgv (“cow”), Icelandic kýr (“cow”), Latin bōs (“ox, bull, cow”) (whence English beef), Armenian կով (kov, “cow”). Doublet of beef. The plural kine is from Middle English kyne, kyn, kuin, kiin, kien (“cows”), either a double plural of Middle English ky, kye (“cows”), equivalent to modern kye + -en, or inherited from Old English cūna (“cows', of cows”), genitive plural of cū (“cow”).

9 senses

1An adult female of the species Bos taurus, especially…
2Any member of the species Bos taurus that is not of a…
3Beef: the meat of cattle as food.
4Any bovines or bovids generally, including yaks, buffalo, etc.
5A female member of other large species of mammal…
6A woman considered unpleasant in some way, particularly…
7A chock: a wedge or brake used to stop a machine or car.
8A third-year cadet at West Point.
9A fish that is very large for its species, such as a…

An adult female of the species Bos taurus, especially one that has calved.

The whole herd is out to pasture right now — the cows, calves, and heifers are out back, and the bulls are down by the creek.

Broadly, Informal Any member of the species Bos taurus that is not of a bucking breed or fighting breed, regardless of sex or age, including steers and calves.

We saw lots of cows at the farm show, including some surprisingly gigantic bulls.

Uncommon Beef: the meat of cattle as food.

The only meat I eat is cow.

Uncommon Any bovines or bovids generally, including yaks, buffalo, etc.

Biology, Natural sciences A female member of other large species of mammal, including the bovines, moose, whales, seals, hippos, rhinos, manatees, and elephants.

Ireland, UK, Derogatory, Informal A woman considered unpleasant in some way, particularly one considered nasty, stupid, fat, lazy, or difficult.

[…] the worst insult to a woman, either in London or Paris, is "cow"; a name which might even be a compliment, for cows are among the most likeable of animals.1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXXII, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:
Greville Preston: You've been set up, you silly cow. Now, don't let me hear any more about this unless you have absolute stand-up-in-court proof it's kosher... Mattie Storin: Pig.1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 2:

1 more example

By the time of my third, five months ago, I was a right bossy cow about what I wanted because I knew the drill. For reasons I shan’t bore you with, I got them to induce me at 39 weeks, at 10am, with the epidural going in first, and it was all a dream.2014 December 5, Marina Hyde, “Childbirth is as awful as it is magical, thanks to our postnatal ‘care’”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 15 Apr 2021:

Business, Mining A chock: a wedge or brake used to stop a machine or car.

Government, Military, Politics, War US, Slang A third-year cadet at West Point.

Colonel Red Reeder, West Point Second Classman An assistant manager, wearing the stripes of a cadet corporal, walked up to Coach Smith. Clint knew him, a Cow from B-l. What had he done to become so outstanding that the Tacs made him a corporal?
When I was a cow (junior) at West Point, I dated a plebe (freshman), which is considered fraternization in the cadet realm.2023, James E Parco, David A Levy, Daphne DePorres, Attitudes Aren't Free: A Call to Action, page 242:

Fishing, Hobbies, Lifestyle Slang A fish that is very large for its species, such as a large striped bass or large bluefin tuna.

Synonyms: bitch, moo-cow, dolphinet, bastard, bugger
Antonyms: bull, ox, steer, heifer
Derived terms: 205 terms
all cows eat grass, ant cow, anticow, bell cow, black cow, Blue Cow, brown cow, bull and cow, bulls and cows, bush cow, cash cow, cat-cow, cowback, cowbane, cowbarn, cow bean, cowbell, cow bell, cow belt, cowberry, cow bingo, cowbird, cow bite, cow blowing, cowboy, cow bunny, cow cat, cow catcher, cowcatcher, cowchild, cow chip, cow-chip, cow-clicker, cow cocky, cow cod soup, cow college, cow corner, cow creamer, cowdom, cow-dung, cow dung, cowdung, cow elephant, cow-eyed, cow eyes, cowfinch, cowfish, Cow Flat, cowflesh, cowfoot, cowfucker, cowgal, cowgirl, cow grease, cow gum, cow gun, cowhand, cow handed, cow-handed, cowhearted, cow-hearted, cowheel, cowherb, cowherd, cowherder, cowhide, cow hitch, cow-hocked, cowhouse, cowish, cow itch, cow juice, cowkeeper, cow killer, cowleech, cowless, cowlet, cowlick, cowlift, cowlike, cowling, cowlot, cow magnet, cowman, cow meat, cowmilk, cow milk, cow's milk, cow moose, cow-mother, Cow Neck, cowness, cownose, cow-orker, cow parsley, cow parsnip, cowpat, cow-pat, cow pat, cow patty, cowpath, cowpea, cowperson, cowpie, cow pie, cow-pilot, cowpiss, cow piss drinker, cowplop, cowpock, cowpoke, cow pony, cowpony, cowpool, cow pool, cowpooling, cowpox, cow print, cowproof, cow-puncher, cowpuncher, cowpunching, cowpunk, cow pusher, cowquake, cow race, cow reindeer, cows and bulls, cowsense, cow shark, cowshed, cowshit, cow shot, cowskin, cow's lungwort, cow sociology, cowstall, cow stall, cowstealer, cow sucker, cowtail, cow-tastrophe, cowtastrophe, cow tipper, cow tipping, cowtown, cow town, Cowtown, cow-tree, cow tree, cowturd, cow urine, cow vetch, cow weed, cow-wheat, cowy, cowyard, cum cow, dairy cow, dark as the inside of a cow, dogcow, frozen cow juice, gentleman cow, have a cow, hay is for horses and cows, Highland cow, holy cow, how the cow ate the cabbage, hucow, in two shakes of a cow's tail, Japanese crab, killcow, kill-cow, like a cow on a flat rock, like a cow pissing on a flat rock, lolcow, mad cow disease, mad cow, mercow, milch cow, milk cow, moly cow, moo-cow, moo cow, nearly never bulled a cow, noncow, paddyfields crab, sacred cow, sea-cow, sea cow, spherical cow, springing cow, Steller's sea cow, supercow, technetium cow, the cow knows not the worth of its tail till it loses it, till the cow come home, tuna crab, tune the old cow died of, uncowable, until the cows come home, werecow, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free, worricow, yakow
Related terms: beef, bovine, bull, calf, cattle, heifer, low, moo, ox, steer, veal
Hyponyms: cowlet, cowling, dairy cow, milk cow

cow

verb

Etymology Probably from Old Norse kúga (“to oppress”) (whence also Norwegian and Danish kue, Swedish kuva); compare Icelandic kúfa (“to set on top”) and Faroese kúga (“to oppress”).

To intimidate; to daunt the spirits or courage of.

Chiefly passive voice

Con artists are not cowed by the law.
To vanquish a people already cowed.1711 September 21 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “MONDAY, September 11, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 167; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume II, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page Steele:

2 more examples

Emily looked across at the girl. Large, steady, purplish-grey eyes gazed into beady, twinkling, black ones—gazed unquailingly—with something in them that cowed and compelled. The black eyes wavered and fell, their owner covering her retreat with another giggle and toss of her short braid of hair.1923, Lucy Maud Montgomery, “Chapter 8”, in Emily of New Moon:
When a man resolves to become a warrior, when his life is given over to a transcendent cause, then he can’t be cowed by the Big Bad Wolf threatening to blow his house down.2021 [2001], John Eldredge, chapter 9, in Wild at Heart, Expanded edition, Nelson Books, →ISBN, pages 153–154:

Derived terms: cowed, cowedly, cowedness, uncowed

cow

noun

UK, Dialectal A chimney cowl.

Who could live to gaze from day to day on bricks and slates, who had once felt the influence of a scene like this? Who could continue to exist, where there are no cows but the cows on the chimneypots; nothing redolent of Pan but pan-tiles; […]1836, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers:

cow

noun

Etymology Clipping of AT2018cow. From the name of the archetypal event, AT2018cow, an LFBOT. From being an astronomical transient (AT) occurring in 2018, with an automatically assigned code to distinguish it from other events in 2018.

Astronomy, Natural sciences LFBOT: Synonym of luminous fast blue optical transient.

Synonyms: cow-class event, cow event, cow-like event, LFBOT, cow class, luminous fast blue optical transient
Hypernyms: FBOT

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