Veal Is Another French Meat Word for an English Animal
Veal is the meat of a calf. The animal and meat words split after the Norman Conquest.
Veal is the meat of a calf. It belongs to the familiar pattern created by the Norman Conquest: the animal keeps its English name and the meat takes a French one, so calf becomes veal, cow becomes beef, pig becomes pork and sheep becomes mutton. Those who raised the animals spoke English; those who ate them at table spoke French. Latin *vitellus*, a small calf, is the diminutive of *vitulus*, and it also gives *vitello* in Italian and the biological term *vitellus* for an egg yolk.
- Calf meat. *Roast veal.*
- Calf — the animal. *A calf.*
- Vitello — the Italian. *Vitello.*
- Beef, pork, mutton. *The same pattern.*
- Latin — *vitellus*, a small calf. *The root.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | veal | Veal. |
| Related | calf | A calf. |
| Italian | vitello | Veal. |
| French | veau | Veal. |
| Latin | vitulus | A calf. |
- A veal escalope.Food.
- Calf is English, veal is French.History.
- Vitellus means small calf.Etymology.
Why English has two vocabularies
- After 1066 the ruling class spoke Norman French
- Farm workers kept the English animal names
- Kitchen and table used the French terms
- The result is a doubled vocabulary in many fields
- Law and government show the same pattern
Anglo-French *vel*, from Latin *vitellus*, a small calf, diminutive of *vitulus*.
Why is calf meat called veal?
Because after the Norman Conquest the French-speaking nobility named the dishes while English speakers raised the animals.
Is vitellus also a biological term?
Yes. It is used for an egg yolk, from the same Latin word.