▲ | throwanem 3 days ago | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was the last thing you asked about? What was the answer? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
▲ | poszlem 3 days ago | parent [-] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The origin of the word calf. 1. Calf (young cow, young of certain other mammals) Old English: cealf (plural calfru or later calves) Proto-Germanic: kalbaz or *kalbaz/kalbazō Cognates: Old Norse kálfr, Old High German kalb, German Kalb, Dutch kalf. Proto-Indo-European root: often linked to gel- (“to swell, be rounded”), possibly referring to the rounded shape of a young animal. Some etymologists, however, leave it as “origin uncertain” beyond Proto-Germanic. 2. Calf (back of the lower leg) Old English: caf, cealf (“calf of the leg”) — likely related to the animal term, but the link is uncertain. Possible origin: Could be from the same gel- “swell” root, referring to the bulging muscle at the back of the leg, or an independent development within Germanic. Cognates: Old Norse kálfi (“calf of the leg”), Swedish kalv (leg calf), Icelandic kálfi. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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