yearling, n. and a.
(ˈjɪəlɪŋ)
Forms: see year1; also 6 erlynge.
[f. year1 + -ling1. Cf. early mod.Du. jaerlingh, G. jährling.]
A. n.
1. a. An animal a year old, or in its second year (esp. a sheep, calf, or foal; also applied to certain birds and fishes; rarely to a child).
| 1465 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 554, .x. yerlynges. 1531 Lincoln Dioc. Doc. (1914) 247, I bequeth to Jane Hay a yereling, that is to say, a cowe heifer. 1541 in Leadam Sel. Cases Crt. Requests (Selden Soc.) 53 One heyffer oone Erlynge & xj Shepe. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 43 b, In the next [pasture] are my young breede, Yeerelinges, and Twoyeerelinges. 1607 Markham Cavel. i. (1617) 66 To seperate your horse-colts from your Mare Colts,..and your yearelings from your two yeares olde. 1847 Stoddart Angler's Comp. 208 The parr of Tweed..descend to the sea in the shape of smolts, as yearlings. 1847 Bewick's Brit. Birds I. 11 note, The female yearling is termed a red Falcon, the male a red Tiercel. 1877 J. A. Allen Amer. Bison 463 The cows, on the other hand, as well as the yearlings and two-year-olds, are generally fattest in June. 1902 Wister Virginian xi, Alfred..is a little more than a yearlin', and of course he'll snuffle. |
b. transf. The fleece of a yearling sheep.
| 1888 R. Beaumont Woollen Manuf. i. 7 The second clip, which is somewhat thicker in fibre [than ‘lambs’], and both longer and stronger in staple, is styled ‘yearlings’. |
2. A plant a year old; spec. applied to hops of the previous year's growth.
| 1849 Florist 247 Matthew's Juno, large and full, lavender, purple-edge, noticed by us as a yearling last season. 1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 6 Oct. 12/1 Messrs. Woolloton and Son state that ‘brewers hold exceptionally large stocks of yearlings’. 1902 Times 19 Sept. 2/5 Yearlings are in good request at 70s. to 100s. |
3. U.S. colloq. A student in his first year or beginning his second year at college.
| 1900 Dialect Notes II. 70 Yearling, a second year man. 1940 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §825/6 Freshman{ddd}yearling. 1944 Collier's 23 Sept. 69/1 His femme fell for a [West Point] yearling. |
4. Econ. A yearling bond (see sense 3 of the adj. below).
| 1966 This is Bill-Broking (Allen, Harvey & Ross Ltd.) 38/1 Yearlings, stocks issued by local authorities for a period of a year and quoted either on the stock exchange or in the discount market. 1970 Daily Tel. 29 Sept. 17/5 (heading) Local authority yearlings at 8p.c. 1977 Guardian 19 Apr. 17/2 At the moment the yearlings give a return of 10 per cent which may be lower than what is available on the ordinary bonds, but are flexible. 1981 Observer 18 Oct. 20/1 An interesting alternative [to Government stocks] is the local authority negotiable bond—or the ‘yearling’, so-called because of its one-year term. |
B. adj.
1. a. Of an animal (rarely of a child): A year old; in its second year.
| 1528 Paynell Salerne's Regim. F j, The fleshe of..yerelynge wethers..is conuenient inoughe to eate. 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. iii. Law 585 Yearly, the Jews a Yearling Lamb must slay. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Tracts i. (1683) 80 So many thousand male unblemished yearling lambs. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 246, I order'd Friday to take a yearling Goat. 1729 Swift Modest Proposal 13 A well grown, fat Yearling Child. 1814 Southey Roderick i. 244 Even like a yearling child, a fosterer's care. 1859 Sporting Mag. Oct. 240 The yearling filly by him [sc. Rataplan], out of Musjid's dam. 1900 Jrnl. Sch. Geog. (U.S.) Apr. 148 Kips—the skins of small or yearling cattle, exceeding the size of the calf skins. |
b. Of plants or seeds, esp. of hops: Of the previous year's growth.
| 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 246 Cuttings, or yearling plants, for hedge-planting. 1888 Daily News 13 Oct. 2/6 Yearling and old hops are at present quite neglected. 1892 Ibid. 11 Oct. 6/4 Yearling red cloverseed. |
2. Of a year's standing; that has been such for a year.
| 1854 Thackeray Newcomes i, As yearling brides provide lace caps, and work rich clothes, for the expected darling. |
3. Econ. Applied to bonds issued by a local authority usu. for one year.
| 1964 Times 2 Apr. 18/1 Under present conditions a quotation for a yearling bond would mean additional expense. 1969 Daily Tel. 12 Apr. 5/7 Most yearling bonds mature in..a year, sometimes two to five years. 1975 Economist 19 July 95 The explosion in the yearling bond market. 1977 Guardian 19 Apr. 17/2 Yearling bonds..which come in units of {pstlg}1,000, are much more flexible—and like the local authority bonds disgorge interest twice a year. They last for 12 months only and then investors have to start again. |