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 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 𐬔𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬎𐬎𐬀 (garəwa) 'uterus', Sanskrit गर्भ (gárbha) 'womb'), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (“to swell”).

§Noun

calf (plural calves or calfs)

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
• calfskin
• heifer calf
• kill the fatted calf

§Related terms

• calve

§Translations

young cow or bull

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

  Egyptian Arabic: عجل m (ʕegl)

• Armenian: հորթ (hortʿ)
• Aromanian: yitsãl
• Asturian: xatu m, xata f
• Azeri: dana (az)
• Belarusian: цяля́ n (cjaljá)
• Breton: leueoù (br) pl
• Bulgarian: теле́ (bg) n (telé)
• Burmese: နွားကလေး (nwa:ka.le:)
• Catalan: vedell (ca) m
• 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
• Georgian: ხბო (xbo)
• German: (♂♀) Kalb (de) n, (♂) Bullenkalb n, (♀) Kuhkalb n
• Greek: μοσχάρι (el) n (moschári)
• Hebrew: עגל 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)
• Jèrriais: vieau m
• Korean: 송아지 (ko) (song-aji)
• Latgalian: teļš

• Latin: vitulus, vitellus
• Latvian: teļš, telēns m
• Lithuanian: veršiukas m
• Luhya: emosi
• Luo: nyaroya
• Luxembourgish: Kallef (lb) n
• Macedonian: теле n (tele)
• Maltese: għoġol m, erħa f
• Manx: lheiy m
• Maori: kāwhe
• North Frisian: (Mooring dialect) kuulew n; (Föhr-Amrum) kualew n
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kalv (no) m

  Nynorsk: kalv m

• Old Church Slavonic: тєльць m (telĭcĭ)
• 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 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)
• Venetian: vedèl (vec) m, vedèƚo m, vedeło m
• Vietnamese: con bê
• Volapük: (♂♀) bubül (vo), (♂) hibubül, (♀) jibubül, (unweaned ♂♀) sugabubül, (unweaned ♂) sugahibubül, (unweaned ♀) sugajibubül, (♂, obsolete) smaxol, (♀, obsolete) smakun
• 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 (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)
• 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, (♂) hileefadül, (♀) jileefadül, (♂♀ whale) valütül, (♂) hivalütül, (♀) jivalütül, (♂♀ seal) fukül, (♂) hifukül, (♀) jifukül

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

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

• 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 Help:How to check 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
• Mongolian: ^{(please verify)} тугал (tugal)
• 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 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) f (baṭa), رَّبْلَةُ f (rabla)

  Egyptian Arabic: سمانة f (semana)

• Aromanian: pulpã f
• Bulgarian: прасец (bg) m (prasec)
• Burmese: သလုံး (my) (sa.lum:)
• Catalan: panxell (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 小腿 (zh) (xiǎotuǐ), 腓 (zh)

• Corsican: zancaru m
• Czech: lýtko (cs) n
• Danish: læg (da) c
• Dutch: kuit (nl) m
• Faroese: kálvi m
• Finnish: pohje (fi)
• French: mollet (fr) m
• Georgian: კანჭი (kanči)
• German: Wade (de) f
• Hungarian: lábikra (hu), vádli (hu)
• Italian: polpaccio (it) m
• Japanese: 脹脛 (ふくらはぎ, fukurahagi)
• Korean: 종아리 (jong-ari)
• Latin: sūra f

• Malay: betis
• Maltese: pexxun m
• Manchu: holhon
• Maori: takapū, tupehau
• Marathi: पोटरी f (poT'ri)
• Navajo: achʼozh
• Norwegian: legg (no) m
• Ottoman Turkish: بالدر (baldyr)
• Polish: łydka (pl) f
• Portuguese: panturrilha (pt) f
• Romanian: pulpă (ro) f, gambă (ro) f
• Russian: и́кра (ru) f (íkra)
• Scottish Gaelic: calpa m
• Shan: ၶႃ
• Slovak: lýtko n
• Spanish: pantorrilla (es) f
• Swahili: ndama (sw)
• Swedish: vad (sv) c
• Tamil: கால் (ta) (kāl)
• Tetum: ain kabun
• Turkish: baldır (tr), buzağı (tr)
• Volapük: surad (vo)
• Xhosa: isiquluba
• ǃXóõ: gǁxáʻn

muscle in the back of the leg below the knee

• Arabic: بطن الساق f (baṭn as-saaq)
• Bulgarian: прасец (bg) m (prasec)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 腓 (zh) (féi)

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

• Hungarian: lábikra (hu), vádli (hu)
• Italian: polpaccio (it) m
• 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 Help:How to check 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

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§Middle Dutch

§Etymology

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

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /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