heifer
(ˈhɛfə(r))
Forms: α. 1 heahfore, heafor, heahfru, 4 hayfre, (? heyffer), 5 heyfre, hayfare, (hawgher), 5–6 heyghfer, 6 heighfer, hayfer, -farre, heyffer, heyfar, haifer, -ir, hafir, 6–8 heyfer, 7 heifar, 6– heifer. β. 5 hekfore, -fere, hekefeer, hefker, 6 heffeker, effker, hec(k)fare, -forde, -forthe, -furthe, hek-, heke-, heckefar, 7 heckfer, heicfar, 9 dial. heifker. γ. 5 heffre, 6 heffour, effer, heffarth, -orth.
[OE. heahfore (prob. héahfore), heahfru, -fre, of obscure etymology; not found outside English.
As to the form, héahfore might perh. mean ‘high-farer’, i.e. high-goer or high-stepper (-fŏre unstressed form of -fare, fem. of -fara, f. faran to fare, go). But the applicability of such a name is not apparent; and the form héahfru, -fre, remains without satisfactory explanation. The difficulties of form and sense are increased by connecting, as some suggest, -fare, -fru, with OE. fearr, OHG. far(r, farro bull.]
1. a. A young cow, that has not had a calf.
| α c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. iv. (1890) 272 In Scyttisc ᵹenemned Inisbofinde, þæt is ealond hwitre heahfore. c 1000 ælfric Lev. iii. 1 Bringe unwemme fear oþþe heafre. c 1000 ― Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 120/29 Annicula, uel vaccula, heahfore. Ibid. 120/35 Altilium, fæt heahfore. c 1000 Ags. Voc. Ibid. 274/20 Antile, heahfru. a 1327 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 239 With lowe lacede shon Of an hayfre hude. 1387 Trevisa Higden IV. 451 An hoyffer [? heyffer; v.rr. heyfre, heffre]..enyed a lomb [vitula agnum peperit]. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 624/14 Hayfare, iuuenca. c 1483 Caxton Dialogues (E.E.T.S.) 10/17 Flessh of moton or of lambe Of an hawgher or of a calfe. 1526 Tindale Heb. ix. 13 The asshes off an heyfer. 1548 Will of J. Plume (Somerset Ho.), A blake bulloke otherwyse called a Hayfer. 1555 Eden Decades 4 Heyghfers and such other of bothe kindes. 1560 Bible (Genev.) Deut. xxi. 4 Let the Elders of that citie bring the heifer vnto a stonie valley. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 131 b, Oxen, Kine, and Hayfarres. 1587 Harrison England iii. i. (1878) ii. 2 For the steere and heighfer. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 781 Four fair Heifars yet in Yoke untry'd. 1767 A. Young Farmer's Lett. People 232 Two steers, or heifers, may be kept and fatted in the place of one cow. 1863 P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 121 The Greek philosophers sat on their stools chewing the facts in much the same fashion as heifers chew their grass. |
| β 1407 in Kennett Par. Antiq. (1818) II. 212 De debili vitulo cujusdam hekfore vendito. c 1425 Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 41 A yonge hefker alone leuyng, Lay yn thryssheholde. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 234/1 Hekfere, beeste..juvenca. 1510 Will of Parker (Somerset Ho.), Yong mete callid Heffekers. 1529 Acc. Metyngham Coll. (B.M. Add. MS. 27404), For xx kien and for xx heckforthes. 1570 Bury Wills (Camden) 156 One blacke heckforde of two yeares age. 1570 Levins Manip. 29/1 Heckfare, bucula. 1572 Will of R. Gibson (Somerset Ho.), To Mary Pye, one heck⁓furthe. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. cxx, Take a young Hekfar from the droue. 1606 in Maddison Linc. Wills Ser. ii. 23 To my sister Harrington one Heckfer. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Heifker, a heifer. This is the pronunciation of the word, whatever may be its orthography. |
| γ 1387 Heffre [see in α.]. 1525 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 210 A heffour in calf. 1552 Huloet s.v. Yonge, Yonge cowe or heffarth, iunix. |
b. to plough with one's heifer: derived from the story of Samson (Judges xiv. 18).
| 1560 Bible (Genev.) Judg. xiv. 18 If ye had not plowed with my heiffer, ye had not founde out my ridle. 1655 Sir E. Nicholas in N. Papers (Camden) II. 172 If he doe not, wee will plough with his heifer as well as with others. 1663 J. Spencer Prodigies (1665) 15 Some few which had their own heifer to plough withal. 1677 Gilpin Demonol. (1867) 63. |
c. fig. Wife.
| 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Wom. ii. v, Her, whom I shall choose for my heicfar. |
d. A woman, a girl.
depreciatory slang.| 1835 A. B. Longstreet Georgia Scenes 143 He rushed into the Kitchen in a fury. ‘You infernal heifer!’ said he to Aunt Clory. 1853 T. C. Haliburton Sam Slick's Wise Saws II. xii. 282, I have half a mind to marry that heifer, tho' wives are bothersome critters when you have too many of them. 1940 M. Marples Pub. Sch. Slang 115 Charwomen were satirically known as heifers at Charterhouse. 1964 O. E. Middleton in C. K. Stead N.Z. Short Stories (1966) 201 Was that heifer of Blackie's the same one he had a fortnight ago? 1973 Black World Jan. 62/2 That heifer that been trying to get next to my man Lucky since the year one. |
2. Comb., as
heifer calf,
heifer yearling;
† heifer-bud, a weaned she-calf of the first year;
heifer dust slang, (
a) nonsense (see also
quot. 1927
2); (
b) (see
quot. 1945);
heifer-paddock Austral. slang, a girls' school.
| 1507 Will of Walter (Somerset Ho.), Juvencas voc. *heffer⁓buddes. |
| 1865 H. H. Dixon Field & Fern vii. 140 The brothers only sell a few *heifer calves. |
| 1927 ‘J. Barbican’ Confess. Rum-Runner xxiii. 256 Even if they do get pinched, they always have some *heifer dust ready about laying a trap for a ship. 1927 Dialect Notes V. 449 Heifer dust act, the, an arrest and cross-questioning by the police. 1941 Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 35 Heifer dust, nonsense. 1945 ― Austral. Lang. vi. 123 Other Australianisms for girls or young women include:..a bit of heifer dust. |
| 1885 Mrs. C. Praed Sketches Austral. Life ii. 50 Next year I shall look over a *heifer-paddock in Sydney, and take my pick. |
| 1865 H. H. Dixon Field & Fern vii. 133 Deacon Milne bought the *heifer yearling. |
Hence
ˈheiferhood, the state or age of a heifer.
| 1886 All Year Round 14 Aug. 36 The cows never get a run after they have once grown out of heiferhood. |