Cowhouse

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A building designed to provide shelter and housing for cows
2. A structure used to keep cattle safe and comfortable, typically found on farms
3. An enclosed space or stall where cows are housed and cared for

Etymology: Cowhouse is about as transparent as English compounds get: "cow" joined to "house," with nothing hidden in either part. Its history reaches back to Middle English, where the form appeared as "cowhous" and "cowehous," showing the two elements already fused into one word by then. The pattern is the same one that gives us "henhouse," "pigsty" and "stable," each naming a building by the animal it shelters. Both parts are old native English material. "Cow" descends from Old English "cū," and "house" from Old English "hūs," so the compound is entirely Germanic in origin rather than borrowed from Latin or French. Its meaning has stayed close to its literal sense: a building for keeping cows. The word is a useful reminder that much of the everyday vocabulary of farming was built from plain materials that English speakers already had to hand.

Synonyms: barn, stable