cow

Etymology 1

From Middle English cou, cu, from Old English cū (“cow”), from Proto-West Germanic *kū, from Proto-Germanic *kūz (“cow”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (“cow”). Cognate with Sanskrit गो (go), Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs), Persian گاو (gâv)), Latvian govs (“cow”), Proto-Slavic *govędo (Serbo-Croatian govedo, Russian говядина (govjadina) ("beef")), Scots coo (“cow”), North Frisian ko, kø (“cow”), West Frisian ko (“cow”), Dutch koe (“cow”), Low German Koh, Koo, Kau (“cow”), German Kuh (“cow”), Swedish ko (“cow”), Norwegian ku (“cow”), Icelandic kýr (“cow”), Latin bōs (“ox, bull, cow”), Armenian կով (kov, “cow”). The plural kine is from Middle English kyne, kyn, kuin, kiin, kien (“cows”), either a double plural of Middle English ky, kye (“cows”), equivalent to modern kye + -en, or inherited from Old English cȳna (“cows', of cows”), genitive plural of cū (“cow”).

noun

1. (strictly) An adult female of the species Bos taurus, especially one that has calved.
   Cow milk is the most common form of milk in Europe.
2. (loosely or informal) Any member of the species Bos taurus regardless of sex or age, including bulls and calves.
3. (uncommon) Beef: the meat of cattle as food.
   The only meat I eat is cow.
4. (uncommon) Any bovines or bovids generally, including yaks, buffalo, etc.
5. (biology) A female member of other large species of mammal, including the bovines, moose, whales, seals, hippos, rhinos, manatees, and elephants.
6. (derogatory, UK, Australia, informal) A woman considered unpleasant in some way, particularly one considered nasty, stupid, fat, lazy, or difficult.
   Greville Preston: You've been set up, you silly cow. Now, don't let me hear any more about this unless you have absolute stand-up-in-court proof it's kosher... Mattie Storin: Pig. 1990, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 2
   By the time of my third, five months ago, I was a right bossy cow about what I wanted because I knew the drill. For reasons I shan’t bore you with, I got them to induce me at 39 weeks, at 10am, with the epidural going in first, and it was all a dream. 2014-12-05, Marina Hyde, “Childbirth is as awful as it is magical, thanks to our postnatal ‘care’”, in The Guardian
7. (mining) A chock: a wedge or brake used to stop a machine or car.
   Coordinate term: dog

Etymology 2

Probably from Old Norse kúga (“to oppress”) (whence also Norwegian and Danish kue, Swedish kuva); compare Icelandic kúfa (“to set on top”) and Faroese kúga (“to oppress”).

verb

1. (transitive, chiefly in the passive voice) To intimidate; to daunt the spirits or courage of.
   Con artists are not cowed by the law.

Etymology 3

noun

1. (UK, dialect) A chimney cowl.
   Who could live to gaze from day to day on bricks and slates, who had once felt the influence of a scene like this? Who could continue to exist, where there are no cows but the cows on the chimneypots; nothing redolent of Pan but pan-tiles; […] 1836, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers