English → Latin
“cattle” in Latin
pecusA group of large domestic animals: a herd of cattle, horses, or donkeys; such animals in a collective sense: cattle and ōsmouth; (in general) head or face; (in general) facial features, countenance, appearancenōnnotdum(with indicative) while, whilst, as, meanwhile (as), (for) as long as, until; (before a verbal substantive) during; (witfīliusa son; any male descendant; childrenarmentuma draft animal (a large domestic animal suitable for drawing a plow: an ox, a horse); synonym of armenta: such animals tgrexa group of smaller animals: a flock (of birds, sheep, etc.), a pack (of dogs, wolves, etc.), a swarm (of insects), etc.;iūmentumA draft animal, a beast of burden, a large domestic animal suitable for drawing carts and carriages: a cow, horse, mule,axisAn axletree of wagon, car, chariot.; The North Pole.; The heavens or a region or clime of these.
The English word cattle itself goes back to Latin caput, through capitāle.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
cattle
pecus, oris, n., pecudes, dum, f. (the former especially of the larger, oxen, horses. etc.; the latter of the smaller, as sheep, goats. etc.): armentum, armenta, plur. (beasts for draught or burden, especially for ploughing; oxen, horses, mules, asses; also herd): grex (flock, i. e., of the smaller animals: sheep, goats, etc.): jumentum (a beast of draught). (The words are found in this connection and order), pecus et jumenta; armenta et greges. To keep cattle, pecus et jumenta alere. Fat cattle, pecus altile: pecudes altiles (for fattening): pecus saginatum (fattened): horned cattle, cornuta (sc. animalia): *armenta cornuta: cornigera and bucera are poetical.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for cattle?
- The usual Latin words for “cattle” are pecus, ōs, nōn; also dum, fīlius, armentum. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.