cattle

plural noun

cat·​tle ˈka-tᵊl 

1

: domesticated quadrupeds held as property or raised for use

specifically : bovine animals on a farm or ranch

2

: human beings especially en masse

Examples of cattle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Tensions are already high between the two groups, with Constance’s men terrorizing Fiona’s cattle while the town sheriff looks the other way. —Alison Herman, Variety, 4 Dec. 2025

The event left Naima, an Australian cattle dog mix, with a bite mark and Cameron with a few scratches. —Elliott Wenzler, Denver Post, 2 Dec. 2025

Microbes from extreme terrains show major industrial potential As reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the team found that the faeces of yaks, Tibetan sheep, antelope, cattle, horses, and kiangs host thousands of microbial species that have never been documented. —Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 1 Dec. 2025

Per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the season 2 premiere featured the Fort Worth Herd’s cattle drive at the Fort Worth Stockyards. —Christopher Rudolph, PEOPLE, 30 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English catel, cadel "property (whether real or personal), goods, treasure, livestock, (in plural cateles) possessions," borrowed from Anglo-French katil "property, goods, wealth," borrowed from medieval French (dialects of Picardy and French Flanders) catel, going back to Medieval Latin capitāle "movable property, riches," (in Anglo-Saxon law texts) "head of cattle," noun derivative from neuter of capitālis "of the head, chief, principal" — more at capital entry 1

Note: Note that the spelling cattle is uncommon before the eighteenth century. Anglo-French katil is a variant of chatel—see chattel, which is a doublet of this word. Though the variant with [k] is rare in Anglo-French, catel is frequent and used almost interchangeably with chatel in Middle English. The sense "livestock," however, is only attached to catel, to judge from citations in the Middle English Dictionary. — Regarding the meaning "movable property, riches" of capitālis see note at capital entry 2.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing cattle

• Australian cattle dog
• beef cattle
• cattle call
• cattle egret
• cattle grid
• cattle grub
• cattle guard
• cattle prod
• cattle tick
• common cattle grub
• dairy cattle
• short-nosed cattle louse

Rhymes for cattle

• battel
• battle
• brattle
• chattel
• prattle
• rattle
• tattle
• striatal

Kids Definition

cattle

noun

cat·​tle ˈkat-ᵊl 

plural cattle

: domestic four-footed animals held as property or raised for use

especially : bovine animals (as cows, bulls, or steers) kept on a farm or ranch