different between calf vs billy

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: käf, IPA^(key): /k??f/
• (US, Can) enPR: k?f, IPA^(key): /kæf/
• (AUS, General New Zealand, Northern England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland) IPA^(key): /k??f/
• Rhymes: -??f, -æf

Etymology 1

From Middle English calf, kælf, kelf, from Old English cælf, ?ealf;also cognate with German Kalb (“calf”) and Dutch kalf (“calf”), from Proto-Germanic *kalbaz, further etymology unknown.

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 deer, elephant, seal, whale or giraffe (also used of some other animals).
4. A chunk of ice broken from a larger glacier, ice shelf, or iceberg.
   • 1915 (published), 1848 (first written), Elisha Kent Kane, Adrift in the Arctic Ice Pack

     Our swell ceases with this wind, and the floes seem disposed to come together again; but the days of winter have passed by, and the interposing calves prevent the apposition of the edges

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.
   • 1627, Michael Drayton, Nimphidia, the Court of Faery

     some silly, doating, brainless calf

Synonyms

• bullet (rare); cowlet, cowling; moggy (Midlands, now rare)

Derived terms

Related terms

• calve

Translations

See also

• bull
• cow
• veal

Etymology 2

From Middle English calf, kalf, from Old Norse kalfi, possibly derived from the same Germanic root as English calf (“young cow”) (above). Cognate with Icelandic kálfi (“calf of the leg”).

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.

Derived terms

• calfless

Translations

References

Anagrams

• CLAF, FLAC

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch calf, 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
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “calf”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English cælf, Anglian form of ?ealf, from Proto-Germanic *kalbaz.

Alternative forms

• chalf, chalve, chelve, kelf, kalf, calfe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kalf/, /t?alf/

Noun

calf (plural calver(e) or calveren or calves)

2. calf (cow that has not fully matured)
3. A representation of a calf; something that looks like a calf.
4. fawn (deer that has not fully matured)
5. (rare) Veal; the meat of calves.

Descendants

• English: calf
• Scots: cauf, cawf, caff, calf
• Yola: callef

References

• “calf, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-17.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse kalfi.

Alternative forms

• calfe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kalf(?)/

Noun

calf (plural calves)

2. calf (part of the leg).

Descendants

• English: calf
• Scots: cauf

References

• “calf, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-17.

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *kalbaz.

Noun

calf n

1. calf

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: calf
  • Dutch: kalf
  • Limburgish: kalf

Further reading

• “kalf”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Scots

Etymology 1

From Middle English calf (“young cow”).

Noun

calf

1. Alternative form of cauf (“calf (young cow)”)

Etymology 2

From Middle English caf, caff, kaf, kaff, alternative forms of chaf.

Noun

calf

1. Alternative form of caff

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?li

Etymology 1

• Of obscure origin. Perhaps from the name Billy, a diminutive of William, or a variant of bully (“companion, mate, comrade”). Compare Scots billie (“a comrade; companion”).
• (condom): From the E-Rotic song Willy, Use a Billy... Boy.

Noun

billy (plural billies)

1. A billy club.
2. A billy goat.
   • 1970 August, Valerius Geist, Mountain Goat Mysteries, Field & Stream, page 62,

     Then, during three days, I was amazed to see nannies with kids attack and chase off large billies.

   • 1992, Dwight R. Schuh, Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus), in Bowhunter's Encyclopedia, page 276,

     In fact, distinguishing between billies and nannies isn't necessarily a sure thing.
   1. A male goat; a ram.
3. (Tyneside) A good friend.
4. (slang) A condom.
5. A slubbing or roving machine.
   • 1840, The Citizen, page 347,

     […] at the time there existed in Dublin and its immediate neighbourhood, “forty-five manufacturers, having twenty-two billies, giving employment to 2885 work people, on whom depended for support 7386 individuals, manufacturing 29,312 pieces of cloth, of various qualities, valued at £336,380.”

Derived terms

• billy buttons
• billy cart
• billygoat
• hillbilly
• Silly Billy, silly billy

Etymology 2

Of uncertain origin, but probably extracted from Scots billypot (“a type of cooking pot”).

Noun

billy (plural billies)

1. (Australia, New Zealand) A tin with a swing handle used to boil tea over an open fire; a billycan; a billypot.

   Let's get the billy and cook some beans.

   • 1889, Ernest Giles, Australia Twice Traversed, 2004, page 239,

     We had been absent from civilisation, so long, that our tin billies, the only boiling utensils we had, got completely worn or burnt out at the bottoms, and as the boilings for glue and oil must still go on, what were we to do with billies with no bottoms?

   • 1942, Emily Carr, The Book of Small, "Loyalty," [4]

     Mother prepared a splendid picnic. […] Rugs, food and the black billy for making tea, were packed into the old baby buggy and we trundled it straight down Simcoe Street.

   • 2011, Rod Moss, The Hard Light of Day: An Artist's Story of Friendships in Arrernte Country, unnumbered page,

     Over the fence, in a shallow gully 100 metres away, this guy and his wife were living on the dirt in the open weather with just a blanket, billies, a dog and a transistor radio. They didn't even have water.

2. (Australia, slang) A bong for smoking marijuana.

Translations

Derived terms

• billy boy
• billy bread
• billycan, billy-can
• billyful
• billy lid
• billy tea
• Christmas billy

References

• Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, ?ISBN
• Sceilig: Information Pack for Troops (p. 4)
• The Patrol goes to Camp (pp. 9, 11).