calf

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /kɑːf/, SAMPA: /kA:f/
• (US) enPR: kǎf, IPA: /kæf/, SAMPA: /k{f/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːf

Etymology 1

A cow and calf

Old English cealf, from Proto-Germanic *kalbaz (compare Dutch kalf, German Kalb, Danish kalv), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷolbʰo 'womb, animal young' (compare Ancient Greek (Hesychius) δολφός (dolphós) 'womb', Avestan garəwa 'uterus', Sanskrit गर्भ (gárbha) 'womb'), from the base *gel- 'to swell'.

Noun

calf (plural calves or calfs)

1. A young cow or bull.
2. A young elephant, seal or whale (also used of some other animals).
3. A chunk of ice broken off of a larger glacier, ice shelf, or iceberg.
4. A small island, near a larger island.
5. A cabless railroad engine
6. (informal, dated) An awkward or silly boy or young man; any silly person; a dolt.

Derived terms

• bull calf
• calfskin
• heifer calf
• kill the fatted calf

Related terms

• calve

Translations

young cow or bull

Afrikaans: kalwers (af) pl. Akkadian: 𒀫 (būru) Arabic: عجل (ʕijl) m. Armenian: հորթ (hort') Aromanian: yitsãl Asturian: xatu (ast) m., xata (ast) f. Bosnian: tele (bs) n. Breton: leueoù (br) pl. Bulgarian: теле (bg) (telé) n. Burmese: နွားကလေး (my) (nwa:găle:) Catalan: vedell (ca) m. Chechen: эса Cherokee: ᏩᎧᎠᎩᎾ (chr) (waka agina) Chinese: 犢 (dú), 小牛 (xiǎo niú) Coptic: ⲙⲁⲥⲉ (mase) Cornish: leugh (kw) Croatian: tele (hr) n. Czech: tele (cs) n. Danish: kalv (da) c. Dutch: kalf (nl) n. Egyptian: bḥz Eshtehardi: جینگَ (jinga) m., دوگیَه (dugiya) f. Esperanto: bovido (eo) Estonian: vasikas (et) Finnish: vasikka (fi) French: veau (fr) m. Georgian: ხბო (ka) (xbo) German: Kalb (de) n. Greek: μοσχάρι (el) (moschári) n. Hebrew: עגל (he) (‘egel) m. Hungarian: borjú (hu) Icelandic: kálfur (is) m. Ido: bovyuno (io) Irish: lao (ga) m., gamhain (ga) m. Italian: vitello (it) m.

Japanese: 子牛 (ja) (こうし (ja), ko-ushi) Latin: vitulus (la), vitellus (la) Latvian: teļš (lv) Lithuanian: veršiukas (lt) m. Luhya: emosi Luo: nyaroya Luxembourgish: Kallef (lb) n. Macedonian: теле (mk) n. Maltese: għoġol (mt) m., erħa (mt) f. Manx: lheiy (gv) m. Norwegian: kalv (no) m. Old Church Slavonic: тєльць (telĭcĭ) m. Persian: گوساله (fa) (gusâle or gusâla) Polish: cielę (pl) n. Portuguese: bezerro (pt) m. Romanian: vițel (ro) Romansch: vadè (rm) m. Russian: телёнок (ru) (teljónok) m., телец (ru) (teléts) m. Scottish Gaelic: laogh (gd) m. Serbian: Cyrillic: теле (sr) n. Roman: tele (sr) n. Seri: noiiyo Sicilian: jencu m. Slovene: tele (sl) n. Spanish: becerro (es) m., ternero (es) m., ternera (es) f. Sumerian: 𒀫 (AMAR) Swahili: ndama (sw) Swedish: kalv (sv) c. Tswana: namane (tn) Turkish: dana (tr), buzağı (tr) Volapük: (male or female) bubül (vo), (male) hibubül (vo), (female) jibubül (vo), (male, obsolete) smaxol (vo), (female, obsolete) smakun (vo), (unweaned male or female) sugabubül (vo), (unweaned male) sugahibubül (vo), (unweaned female) sugajibubül (vo) Welsh: llo (cy) m. West Frisian: keal n. Wolof: séll wi (wo)

young elephant, seal or whale (also used of some other animals)

Chechen: эса Chinese: 仔, 仔 (zǎi) Danish: unge (da) c. (of an elephant, seal or whale), kalv (da) c. (of other animals, e.g., moose or antelope) Dutch: kalf (nl) n., jong (nl) n. Finnish: poikanen (fi) French: éléphanteau (fr) m., chiot (fr) m. (seal calf; lit., "puppy"),blanchon (fr) m. (seal calf), baleineau (fr) m. (whale calf)

German: Kalb (de) n. Hungarian: borjú (hu), kölyök (hu) Norwegian: kalv (no) m. Russian: слонёнок (ru) (slonjónok) m. (elephant calf), тюленёнок (ru) (tjulenjónok) m. (seal calf), китёнок (ru) (kitjónok) m. (whale calf) Spanish: cría (es) f. Swahili: ndama (sw) Swedish: kalv (sv) c.

chunk of ice broken off of a larger glacier, ice shelf, or iceberg

Danish: kalv (da) c. Hungarian: jégtömb (hu)

Norwegian: kalv (no) m. Swahili: ndama (sw)

small island beside another one

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Afrikaans: kalf (af) n. Albanian: viç (sq) m. Alemannic German: Chalb n. Breton: leue (br) m. Serbo-Croatian: tele (hr)

Lithuanian: veršis (lt) Mongolian: тугал (tugal) Norwegian: kalv (no) m. Portuguese: bezerro (pt) m., bezerra (pt) f., terneiro (pt) m., terneira (pt) f. Sardinian: (b)igru, (b)ittellu

See also

• cow
• veal

Etymology 2

Calf of the leg

Old Norse kálfi, from Proto-Germanic *kalbô (compare German dial. Kalb 'muscle'), derived from calf¹; see above.

Noun

calf (plural calves or calfs)

1. (anatomy) The back of the leg below the knee.
2. The muscle in the back of the leg below the knee.
   • 1988, Steve Holman, "Christian Conquers Columbus", Ironman, 47 (6): 28-34.

     Sure, his calves are a little weak, but the rest of his physique is so overwhelming, he should place high.

Translations

anatomy: back of the leg below the knee

Arabic: بطة (ar) (baTTa) f. Bulgarian: прасец (bg) m. Catalan: panxell (ca) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 小腿 (cmn) (xiǎotuǐ) Corsican: zancaru (co) m. Czech: lýtko (cs) n. Danish: læg (da) c. Dutch: kuit (nl) m. Finnish: pohje (fi) French: mollet (fr) m. German: Wade (de) f. Hungarian: lábikra (hu), vádli (hu) Italian: polpaccio (it) m. Japanese: 脹脛 (ja) (ふくらはぎ (ja), fukurahagi)

Latin: sūra (la) f. Malay: betis (ms) Maltese: pexxun m. Norwegian: legg (no) m. Polish: łydka (pl) f. Portuguese: panturrilha (pt) m. Russian: икра (ru) (íkra) f. Scottish Gaelic: calpa m. Slovak: lýtko (sk) n. Spanish: pantorrilla (es) f. Swahili: ndama (sw) Turkish: baldır (tr), buzağı (tr) Volapük: surad (vo) !Xóõ: gǁxáʻn

muscle in the back of the leg below the knee

Bulgarian: прасец (bg) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 腓 (cmn) (féi) Danish: lægmuskel (da) c. Dutch: kuit (nl) m., kuitspier (nl) f. Finnish: pohje (fi)

German: Wadenmuskel m. Hungarian: lábikra (hu), vádli (hu) Italian: polpaccio (it) m. Russian: икра (ru) (íkra) f. Scottish Gaelic: calpa m. Swahili: ndama (sw)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Afrikaans: kuit n. Breton: kof-gar m. kofoù-gar / kofoù-divhar pl.

Lithuanian: blauzda f. Spanish: gemelo m.

Anagrams

• CLAF

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Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch kalf, from Proto-Germanic *kalbaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kalf/

Noun

calf n. (stem calv- or calver-)

1. calf

Derived terms

• Dutch: kalf

Declension

case	singular	plural
nominative	calf	calver
genitive	calves	calver
dative	calve	calver(en)
accusative	calf	calver