Translation
calf
Word origin
Two Esperanto pieces, not a borrowing: bovo, from Latin bos (bovem), an ox, plus the suffix -id-, which names the young of whatever it is attached to. English gets bovine and beef from the same Latin root, and the -id- suffix is the one behind Greek patronymics like Atreides.
- Origin
- Esperanto (bovo + -id-)
- Root
- bov- + -id-
- English cognates
- bovine, beef
Examples
.
The young calf followed its mother across the field.
.
The calf still drinks milk and does not eat grass.
.
Three calves stood in the field beside a big tree.
The -- flood finishes here. Bovo at rank 1,485
is the ox or the head of cattle; -- is the offspring suffix; a is
therefore a calf, and you did not have to learn a new word to get it. English
does: calf shares not one letter with cow. The band you are reading has been
paying out on this suffix for two chapters now, and this is the last of the
common farmyard young to arrive.
Name the whole family and you have a dozen words free.Kokido a chick sits at 2,561,
reĝido a king's child at 2,542, and this same
chapter brings ŝafido a lamb at 2,613 and
hundido a puppy at 2,628. The rest run on the rule
without needing a page of their own: kato at 886 gives
o a kitten, ĉevalo at 325 gives o a
foal, gives a duckling. Six English words with six unrelated
shapes, one Esperanto rule.
The meat fence, again. is the live animal. Veal is o, with
the -- suffix that turns a creature into the substance it yields, exactly as
o is beef and o is chicken. This is the same joke the
kokido page makes and it is worth repeating, because
the mistake is so easy: asking a waiter for orders a living calf, and
he will be within his rights to bring one.
Where this fits
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bovido: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "bovido" (calf): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 54.