Forequarters

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The front legs and adjacent body parts of a quadruped such as a horse or cow
2. The anterior portion of a four-legged creature, including its front limbs and surrounding trunk
3. The front section of a beast of burden or livestock, comprising the forward legs and attached torso

Etymology: Forequarters is a plain compound: "fore" (Old English "fore", meaning "before" or "in front") joined to "quarter," which in this sense means one of the four main portions of a slaughtered animal's carcass. Butchers split a carcass across its length into front and back halves, then cut each half across into quarters, so the forequarters are the front half of the animal, containing the shoulders and forelegs. "Quarter" came into English in the 13th century from Old French "quartier," itself from Latin "quartarius," a fourth part. The butchers' sense of the word is an old one, which is why the compound describes a cut of meat rather than any figurative idea.

Synonyms: front, forepart, anterior section

Antonyms: hindquarters, rear