milch
adj/mɪlt͡ʃ/
Etymology From Middle English milche, melche, from Old English *melċe, *milċe (attested in þrimilċe, þrimilċemōnaþ), from Proto-Germanic *milkijaz, *melkijaz from Proto-Germanic *melkaz (“milky, milk-giving”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- (“to wipe, wipe off, milk”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian meelk (“milch”), Low German melke (“milch”), German melk (“milk-giving, milch”), Alemannic German mëlch (“milch, milkable”), Icelandic milkur, mjólkur (“milk-giving”). More at milk. Compare milchig.
1
Dated Used to produce milk; dairy.
Of a cow or other livestock
- so many cattle […] old cows and young cows; meek-eyed milch cows and fierce […] Texas steers.1906, Upton Sinclair, The Jungle:
2
Dated, Of a mammal Currently producing milk for its offspring.
- She wildly breaketh from their strict embrace / Like a milch doe, whose swelling dugs do ache / Hasting to feed her fawn, hid in some break.1593, [William Shakespeare], Venus and Adonis, London: […] Richard Field, […], →OCLC:
- you must house your Milch-cows1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC:
3
Obsolete Tender; pitiful; weeping.