Names for castrated animals

[Andrew (imported)]

Today I noted that the "Did you know...?" was "Castrating a deer results in nothing more than a castrated deer."

Which made me wonder about special names for castrated animals. For starters...

Human = eunuch

Horse = geldings

Please add to the list. Thank you.

[gwendolyn (imported)]

Bull = Steer. Occaisonally Bullock.

Rooster = Capon.

Ram = Wether.

[jeo (imported)]

Horse changes into: gelding.

In german: Wallach.

And my compliments to one of

my favourite actors:

Eli Wallach.

The Tuco out of Segio Leone's

"The good, the bad and the ugly".

Hey Andrew! If you really go through

with this project, you will have

to write a rather fat dictionary!

jeo

[peakboy (imported)]

This complete but chastity - enforced pig aspires to be a barrow - castrated hog.

[Frustration (imported)]

A castrated goat is also a wether.

[colin (imported)]

A castrated Bull is also an Ox!

LOL

[BossTamsin (imported)]

I'm not sure this will require a large dictionary, unless it's multi-lingual.

From what I can see, I think we already have about 90% of the names listed. I'd be very surprised if 10 more show up.

IEunuch.

[JesusA]

It's interesting that the more important the animal is for humans, the more words there are for it in relation to age and sex. (This probably gets filed in the same place as the standard observation that "the Eskimo have 200 words for snow." They don't really; they only have about 30, but the idea is the same.)

Wild animals of importance usually have terms for the species in general, males, females (sometimes the same as the species name), and the young:

Deer = Buck (or "Stag" for a sexually mature, dominant buck) -- Deer (or the old-fashioned "Hind") —- Fawn

Wild boar = Boar -- Sow -- Piglet (or, frequently in this area, just "Pig.") [This one's unusual in that the species is more commonly known by the MALE name, though they are also called "wild pig" by some people around here.]

Some terms get used across species, such as "Sow" for female bear as well as pigs, both domestic and wild, or "Queen" for sexually mature female ants, termites, and cats. "Tom" also works for both the male turkey and cat.

For domesticated animals, there's an additional term for the castrated male (if they are used for any purpose). For example, rabbits and ducks, while long domesticated are not normally castrated, hence no common term for the state. Dogs are castrated frequently enough and have been long enough that there OUGHT to be a term for them in English, but I can't think of one.

Human = Eunuch; Castrato; occasionally Gelding

Horse = Gelding

[Horses and humans also have separate terms for the young of both sexes - boy-girl : colt-filly - showing their cultural importance. The term "Entire" is sometimes used around here in place of "Stallion" to make even more specific that a male horse of any age has NOT been castrated; "Stallion" being reserved for a more mature male used specifically for breeding purposes.]

Cattle = Steer (when young or intended for meat); Ox (when older or intended as a work animal); occasionally Bullock. [The economic importance of the castrated male can be seen by the proliferation of terms.]

Rooster = Capon

Sheep or goat = Wether

Swine = Barrow (castrated before sexual maturity); Stag (castrated after sexual maturity)

[antonia (imported)]

I will have to appologize for this one

Dear Mac,

I do this quit often and then delete what I write.

That doesn't work if you interfere.

You see now I have to put my foot in my mouth.

Better still I will put my foot in your mouth

your antonia xxx

[Mac (imported)]

I will have to appologize for this one

Troll = Andrew

Antonia,

That is not very nice.

[Andrew (imported)]

I will have to appologize for this one

Dear Antonio

Don't you know that us recovering alcoholics have VERY SENSETIVE FEELINGS?

[Andrew (imported)]

I found it. A castrated male deer is called a "havier".

By the way, a castrated male catis sometimes called a "gib"

[Paolo]

Thanks, Andrew, I did not know this. Very interesting!:)

[Glenda J (imported)]

As an interesting aside in Esperanto, the International Language, the problem of castrated anything is easy. You learn one word, chavalo, for example means "horse." "virchavalo" means male horse or "stallion," chavalino means "mare" or female horse. "chavalido" means the young horse, chavalaro is a group or horses or a "herd." "chavalajo" means a "horse place" or stable.

Then "eksvirchavalo" is the castrated horse or gelding.

This applies to any animal. Well, almost. A man is a viro and a woman a virino and you might expect a eunuch to be an eksviro, but he is actually a "eaunuko."

So live and learn.

Glenda

[dave44 (imported)]

I call my castrated dog Elvis....the same thing he was called before he was castrated !!

[hrlyrdr (imported)]

isnt a bullock also a steer?

just a thought

[madscientist (imported)]

I found it. A castrated male deer is called a "havier".

By the way, a castrated male catis sometimes called a "gib"

Javier is a man's name in Hispanic countries. I wonder if there is a connection?

[colin (imported)]

Hrlyrdr,

In a sense, bullock, steer and ox are all the same thing. However, a bullock is specifically a young animal. A steer is older and is intended for beef, whereas Oxen are kept as draught animals.

A modern misconception is that people imagine that Horses were always the primary draught animals, but this only happened during the 18th century. Before that almost all ploughing and pulling of carts was done by Oxen. Horses were kept mainly for war and were much too valuable.

LOL

[hrlyrdr (imported)]

okay folks break out your dictanionary(sp) and look up the word cob, it is not a castrated animal, but i think the answer will suprise you

[Mac (imported)]

Yes, rather surprising

cob \kab\ n 1 : a male swan 2 : corn-cob 3 : a short-legged stocky horse

(C) 1995 Zane Publishing, Inc. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (C) 1994 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

[colin (imported)]

Mac,

You should try a real dictionary:

cob (1) a big or notable man; a short legged horse; a male swan; a lump (esp. coal, ore or clay); a rounded object; a herring's head; a loaf of bread (cobloaf); the axis of a head of maize (corn cob); a cobnut; an irregularly shaped Spanish-American Dollar

cob (2) a kind of composition of clay and straw used for building

cob (3) a wicker basket used by sowers

cob (4) to strike, to thump on the buttocks

cob (5) a gull, esp. the greater black backed.

Source: Chambers.

LOL

[Mac (imported)]

You should try a real dictionary:LOL Just one of many problems with the English Language; Too many meanings for some words.

[Andrew (imported)]

Just one of many problems with the English Language; Too many meanings for some words.

And in any substantial dictionary, you will find the word "set" to have the most different meanings

[Prncalexe (imported)]

So what might one call a Castrated Elephant?

Eunicorn

[Prncalexe (imported)]

Would a Castrated Giraffe be a nun-hung-low?