Talk:calf

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Does anyone know how "calf" came to mean specifically the baby cows, bulls, elephants, seals and whales? Why these, what's the pattern? Why not the porcupine or platypus? The same goes for kitten and others. --Vahagn Petrosyan 12:21, 6 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Etymology[edit]

There may be an origin in the root of kelpie; compare Scottish Gaelic calpa (heifer). Andrew H. Gray 19:05, 6 December 2019 (UTC)Andrew (talk)