calf

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kɑːf/
• (US) enPR: kǎf, IPA^(key): /kæf/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːf
• Rhymes: -æf

Etymology 1

A cow and calf

From Middle English calf, from Old English cealf, from Proto-Germanic *kalbaz (compare Dutch kalf, German Kalb, Danish kalv), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷolbʰo (“womb, animal young”), *gʷelbʰ- (compare Ancient Greek (Hesychius) δολφός (dolphós, “womb”), δελφύς (delphús), Avestan 𐬔𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬎𐬎𐬀‏ (garəwa) 'uterus', Sanskrit गर्भ (gárbha) 'womb'), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to swell”).

Noun

calf (plural calves)

1. A young cow or bull.
2. Leather made of the skin of the calf; especially, a fine, light-coloured leather used in bookbinding.
3. A young elephant, seal or whale (also used of some other animals).
4. A chunk of ice broken off of a larger glacier, ice shelf, or iceberg.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Kane to this entry?)

5. A small island, near a larger island.

   the Calf of Man

6. A cabless railroad engine.
7. (informal, dated) An awkward or silly boy or young man; any silly person; a dolt.
   • Drayton

     some silly, doting, brainless calf

Synonyms

• cowling

Derived terms

• bull calf, bull-calf
• calfskin
• cow calf, cow-calf

• heifer calf
• kill the fatted calf
• reindeer calf

Related terms

• calve

Translations

young cow or bull

• Afrikaans: kalwers pl
• Akkadian: 𒀫 (būru)
• Arabic: عِجْل‏‎ (ar) m (ʿijl)

  Egyptian Arabic: عجل‏‎ m (ʕegl)

• Armenian: հորթ (hy) (hortʿ)
• Aromanian: yitsãl
• Asturian: xatu m, xata f
• Azeri: dana (az)
• Belarusian: цяля́ (be) n (cjaljá)
• Breton: leueoù (br) pl
• Bulgarian: теле́ (bg) n (telé)
• Burmese: နွားကလေး (nwa:ka.le:)
• Catalan: vedell (ca) m
• Central Dusun: tananak
• Chechen: эса (esa)
• Cherokee: ᏩᎧᎠᎩᎾ (waka agina)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 小牛 (zh) (xiǎoniú), 犢 (zh), 犊 (zh) (dú)

• Coptic: ⲙⲁⲥⲉ (mase)
• Cornish: leugh
• Czech: tele (cs) n
• Danish: kalv (da) c
• Dutch: kalf (nl) n
• Egyptian: bḥz

  rny

• Eshtehardi: جینگَ‏‎ m (jinga), دوگیَه‏‎ f (dugiya)
• Esperanto: (♂♀) bovido, (♂) virbovido, (♀) bovidino
• Estonian: vasikas (et)
• Faroese: kálvur m
• Finnish: vasikka (fi)
• French: veau (fr) m
• Friulian: vidiel m
• Galician: xuvenco m, xato (gl) m, cuxo (gl) m, cucho (gl) m,camoniño m, becerro (gl) m, tenreiro m
• Georgian: ხბო (xbo)
• German: (♂♀) Kalb (de) n, (♂) Bullenkalb n, (♀) Kuhkalb n
• Greek: μοσχάρι (el) n (moschári)
• Hebrew: עגל‏‎ (he) m (‘egel)
• Hindi: बछिया f (bachiyā)
• Hungarian: borjú (hu)
• Icelandic: kálfur (is) m
• Ido: (♂♀) bovyuno (io), (♂) bovyunulo (io), (♀) bovyunino (io)
• Irish: lao m, gamhain m
• Italian: vitello (it) m
• Japanese: 子牛 (こうし, ko-ushi)
• Khmer: កូនគោ (koon koo)
• Korean: 송아지 (ko) (song-aji)
• Latgalian: teļš
• Latin: vitulus, vitellus
• Latvian: teļš, telēns m
• Lithuanian: veršiukas m

• Low German: Kalf n
• Luhya: emosi
• Luo: nyaroya
• Luxembourgish: Kallef (lb) n
• Macedonian: теле n (tele)
• Maltese: għoġol m, erħa f
• Manx: lheiy m
• Maori: kāwhe
• Mongolian: тугал (mn) (tugal)
• Ngazidja Comorian: mna-mɓe class 1/2 (mna-mbe)
• Norman: vieau m
• North Frisian: (Mooring dialect) kuulew n; (Föhr-Amrum) kualew n
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kalv (no) m

  Nynorsk: kalv m

• Old Church Slavonic: тельць m (telĭcĭ)
• Old Turkic: 𐰉𐰆𐰕𐰍𐰆‏‎ (buzaɣu)
• Pashto: سخی‏‎ (ps) m (sxay)
• Persian: گوساله‏‎ (fa) (gusâle)
• Polish: cielę (pl) n
• Portuguese: bezerro (pt) m, terneiro (pt) m, novilho (pt) m
• Romanian: vițel (ro) m, vițea (ro) f
• Romansch: vadè m
• Russian: телёнок (ru) m (teljónok), теле́ц (ru) m (teléc) (dated or poetic)
• Scots: cauf
• Scottish Gaelic: laogh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: теле n

  Latin: tele (sh) n

• Seri: noiiyo
• Sicilian: jencu (scn) m, viteddu (scn) m
• Slovak: teľa (sk) n
• Slovene: tele (sl) n
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: śele n

  Upper Sorbian: ćelo n

• Spanish: becerro (es) m, ternero (es) m, ternera (es) f
• Sumerian: 𒀫 (AMAR)
• Swahili: ndama (sw)
• Swedish: kalv (sv) c
• Tok Pisin: pikinini bulmakau
• Tswana: namane
• Turkish: dana (tr), buzağı (tr)
• Ukrainian: теля́ n (teljá)
• Urdu: بچھیا‏‎ f (bachiyā)
• Venetian: vedèl (vec) m, vedèƚo m, vedeło m
• Vietnamese: con bê
• Volapük: bubül (vo), (unweaned) sugabubül
• Welsh: llo (cy) m
• West Frisian: keal n
• Wolof: séll wi (wo)

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

• Armenian: ձագ (hy) (jag)
• Chechen: эса (esa)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 仔 (zh) (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)
• Maori: miha (for whales only)

• Mongolian: тугал (mn) (tugal)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kalv (no) m

  Nynorsk: kalv m

• Portuguese: filhote (pt) m, cria (pt) f
• Romanian: pui (ro) m
• Russian: слонёнок (ru) m (slonjónok) (elephant calf), тюленёнок (ru) m (tjulenjónok) (seal calf), китёнок (ru) m (kitjónok) (whale calf)
• Spanish: cría (es) f
• Swahili: ndama (sw)
• Swedish: kalv (sv) c
• Volapük: (elephant) leefadül, (whale) valütül, (seal) fukül

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

• Danish: kalv (da) c
• Hungarian: jégtömb (hu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kalv (no) m

  Nynorsk: kalv m

• Swahili: ndama (sw)

small island beside another one

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kalv (no) m

  Nynorsk: kalv m

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Afrikaans: ^{(please verify)} kalf n
• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} viç m
• Alemannic German: ^{(please verify)} Chalb n

• Breton: ^{(please verify)} leue (br) m
• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} veršis
• Sardinian: ^{(please verify)} (b)igru, ^{(please verify)} (b)ittellu

See also

• cow
• veal

Etymology 2

Calf of the leg

Old Norse kalfi, possibly derived from the same Germanic root as calf (“young cow”) (above).

Noun

calf (plural calves)

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

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: بَطَة‏‎ (ar) f (baṭa), رَبْلَةُ‏‎ f (rablatu)

  Egyptian Arabic: سمانة‏‎ f (semana)

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Aromanian: pulpã f
• Bau Bidayuh: tigieng
• Bulgarian: прасец (bg) m (prasec)
• Burmese: သလုံး (my) (sa.lum:)
• Catalan: panxell (ca) m
• Central Melanau: jeloh
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 小腿 (zh) (xiǎotuǐ), 腓 (zh)

• Corsican: zancaru m
• Czech: lýtko (cs) n
• Danish: læg (da) c
• Dutch: kuit (nl) m
• Esperanto: suro (eo)
• Faroese: kálvi m
• Finnish: pohje (fi)
• French: mollet (fr) m
• Georgian: კანჭი (ḳanč̣i)
• German: Wade (de) f
• Greek: κνήμη (el) f (kními), γάμπα (el) f (gámpa)
• Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: lábikra (hu), vádli (hu)
• Icelandic: kálfi m
• Indonesian: betis (id)
• Iranun: lisen
• Italian: polpaccio (it) m
• Japanese: 脹脛 (ふくらはぎ, fukurahagi)
• Khmer: កំភួនជើង (km) (kɑmpʰuən cəəŋ), ត្រយូងចេក (trɑyooŋ ceɛk)
• Kimaragang: votis
• Korean: 종아리 (jong-ari)
• Latin: sūra f
• Lotud: tonok
• Luxembourgish: Wued f
• Malay: betis

• Maltese: pexxun m
• Manchu: holhon (holhon)
• Maori: takapū, tupehau
• Marathi: पोटरी f (poT'ri)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Navajo: achʼozh
• Norwegian: legg (no) m
• Old English: sceanclira m
• Ottoman Turkish: بالدر‏‎ (baldyr)
• Persian: پشت ساق‏‎ (pošt-e sâq)
• Polish: łydka (pl) f
• Portuguese: panturrilha (pt) f
• Romanian: pulpă (ro) f, gambă (ro) f
• Rungus: votis
• Russian: и́кра (ru) f (íkra)
• Sabah Bisaya: tonok
• Scottish Gaelic: calpa m
• Sebop: bete
• Shan: ၶႃ (khaa¹)
• Slovak: lýtko (sk) n
• Spanish: pantorrilla (es) f
• Swahili: ndama (sw)
• Swedish: vad (sv) c
• Tagal Murut: batis
• Tagalog: binti
• Tambunan Dusun: bodtung
• Tamil: கால் (ta) (kāl)
• Tetum: ain kabun
• Timugon Murut: gakor
• Turkish: baldır (tr), buzağı (tr)
• Vietnamese: bắp chân (vi)
• Volapük: surad (vo)
• Welsh: croth y goes f
• West Coast Bajau: betis, bangkur
• Xhosa: isiquluba
• ǃXóõ: gǁxáʻn

muscle in the back of the leg below the knee

• Arabic: بَطْن اَلسَّاق‏‎ f (baṭn as-sāq)
• Bulgarian: прасец (bg) m (prasec)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 腓 (zh) (féi)

• Danish: lægmuskel c
• Dutch: kuit (nl) m, kuitspier (nl) f
• Finnish: pohje (fi)
• German: Wadenmuskel m
• Hungarian: lábikra (hu), vádli (hu)

• Italian: polpaccio (it) m
• Khmer: សាច់ដុំកំភួនជើង (sac dom kɑmpʰuən cəəŋ)
• Maori: takapū
• Portuguese: tríceps sural m
• Romanian: pulpă (ro) f
• Russian: и́кра (ru) f (íkra)
• 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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Afrikaans: ^{(please verify)} kuit n
• Breton: ^{(please verify)} kof-gar (br) m kofoù-gar, ^{(please verify)} kofoù-divhar pl

• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} blauzda (lt) f
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} gemelo (es) m

Anagrams

• CLAF, FLAC

---

Middle Dutch

Etymology

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

Noun

calf n

1. calf

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: kalf
• Limburgish: kalf

Further reading

• “calf”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “calf”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929