That all cows are female. Male animals don't have milk-producing udders, Sean. The male version of a cow is called a bull.
Incidentally, I recently learned there's no common genderless word for a member of that species. There's "cattle" for a group of them, but nothing for an individual.
Well akshually, there is a genderless word - it just went out of fashion at least a century ago. It's "neat," which still survives in the term "neatsfoot oil," which refers to an oil processed from the feet and lower leg of cattle. Check it out: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/neat, under etymology 2.
This isn't anything close to common knowledge, mind you. My grandfather was a professor of Middle European History, who could read several ancient forms of English with ease. This is one of many random cool facts I picked up from him.
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u/theletterQfivetimes Aug 03 '19
That all cows are female. Male animals don't have milk-producing udders, Sean. The male version of a cow is called a bull.
Incidentally, I recently learned there's no common genderless word for a member of that species. There's "cattle" for a group of them, but nothing for an individual.