heifer

English

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English heyfre, hayfre, heyfer, from Old English hēahfore, hēahfru, of disputed origin; see the Old English entry for more discussion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛfə(ɹ)/, /ˈhɛfɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛfə(ɹ)

Noun

heifer (plural heifers)

1. A young female cow, (particularly) one over one year old but which has not calved.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 19:1–2:

     And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke.

2. (obsolete) A wife.
   • 1609 December (first performance), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Epicoene, or The Silent Woman. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Ben Jonson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act II(please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals), page 549:

     :

     Her, whom I shall choose for my heicfar.

3. (informal, derogatory, obsolete) A girl or young woman.
   • 1853, T.C. Haliburton, Sam Slick's Wise Saws, volume II, page 282:

     I have half a mind to marry that heifer, tho' wives are bothersome critters when you have too many of them.

   • 1934, James T. Farrell, chapter 20, in The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan:

     Sally, a buxom human heifer, leaned forward over the cashier's counter, and handed Dapper Dan O'Doul the autographed picture of Ramon Novarro, which she had procured by sending money and stamps. Her blue energetic eyes flashed, and she continued leaning forward with the front of her dress sagging, permitting Dapper Dan to get an eyeful.

4. (informal, derogatory) A cow: a large, unattractive, unpleasant woman.
   • 2001, Glenda Howard, Cita's World:

     My hand was aching to slap that silly heifer. I told her to take her trifling ass down to Burger King and get herself a job flipping burgers...

Derived terms

• heiferbud, heifer-bud
• heifer calf
• heifer dust
• heiferhood
• heifer paddock, heifer-paddock
• heifer yearling
• Mullingar heifer
• plow with one's heifer, plough with one's heifer

 

Translations

young cow

• Abkhaz: ақабла (akabla)
• Arabic: عِجْل‎ (ar) m (ʕijl) (not distinguished from “calf”), عِجْلَة‎ f (ʕijla) (rare)
• Aramaic:

  Syriac: ܥܶܓܠܬܳܐ‎ f (ʿeglatā), ܐܰܪܘܢܺܝܬܳܐ‎ f (ʾarwanītā)

• Armenian: երինջ (hy) (erinǰ)
• Aromanian: giuncã f
• Assamese: চেউৰী (seuri)
• Azerbaijani: düyə
• Bashkir: тана (tana)
• Bulgarian: юни́ца (bg) f (juníca)
• Czech: jalovice (cs) f
• Danish: kvie (da) c
• Dutch: vaars (nl)
• Esperanto: bovidino, guno
• Estonian: mullikas (et)
• Faroese: kvíga f
• Finnish: hieho (fi)
• French: génisse (fr) f
• Galician: becerra (gl) f, xuvenca f, vitela (gl) f
• German: Färse (de) f, Kalbe (de) f, Kalbin (de) f (South German, Austrian), Queene f (North German)
• Gothic: 𐌺𐌰𐌻𐌱𐍉 f (kalbō)
• Greek: δαμαλίδα f (damalída), αγελαδίτσα f (ageladítsa)

  Ancient: δάμαλις f (dámalis)

• Hungarian: üsző (hu)
• Icelandic: kvíga (is) f
• Irish: bearach m, bodóg f, colann f, collaid f, seafaid f
• Italian: giovenca (it) f, scottona f
• Khowar: منس‎ m, أوزيتو‎ f
• Kikuyu: mori class 9/10
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: nagon (ku) f

• Latin: vitula f, iūnix f, vaccula f
• Latvian: tele f
• Maasai: entawuo f
• Macedonian: јуница f (junica)
• Malay: heifer
• Maori: hewha, kūao kau uha
• Mazanderani: تلم‎ (telem)
• Middle English: heyfre
• Norman: geniche f (Jersey), géniche f (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kvige m or f

  Nynorsk: kvige f

• Old English: hēahfore f
• Old Norse: kvíga f
• Ottoman Turkish: دوگه‎ (düge), دانا‎ (dana)
• Persian: تلیسه‎ (fa) (talise)
• Plautdietsch: Hocklinkj n
• Polish: jałówka (pl) f, jałowica (pl) f, cielica (pl) f
• Portuguese: novilha (pt) f, bezerra (pt) f
• Romanian: juncă (ro), vițea (ro), junincă (ro)
• Russian: тёлка (ru) f (tjólka), не́тель (ru) f (nételʹ)
• Sardinian: tràila
• Scots: quaig (Shetlandic)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ју̀ница f

  Roman: jùnica (sh) f

• Slovak: jalovica (sk) f
• Slovene: telica f
• Spanish: becerra (es) f, vaquilla (es) f
• Swedish: kviga (sv) c
• Turkish: düve (tr)
• Turkmen: tüve
• Ukrainian: тели́ця f (telýcja)
• Vilamovian: kołw
• Wolof: wulu

ugly or objectionable woman

• Finnish: lehmä (fi)
• French: thon (fr) m, morue (fr) f
• Russian: уро́дина (ru) f (uródina)
• Spanish: bruja (es) f, adefesio (es) m
• Turkish: ayı (tr), manda (tr), sığır (tr)