Goat

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɡəʊt/

Definitions

1. A domesticated creature often kept for dairy and meat, a wild counterpart recognized for its agility on steep terrains, and a colloquialism for an individual excelling in a specific field or endeavor
2. This domesticated animal is commonly utilized for milk and meat, while its wild variant is noted for impressive climbing, and the term can refer to someone outstanding in their profession
3. A farmed animal known for producing milk and meat ; a species living in rugged mountainous areas skilled at climbing steep rocks ; a person regarded as the best ever in their field

Etymology: The animal's name has a surprisingly unclear ancestry. Old English "gāt" was a word for a goat, and it goes back to a Proto-Germanic form "*gaits" that has no clear connection to any other known root. Linguists generally attribute it to a substrate language, meaning a language spoken in the region before the Germanic tribes arrived and whose traces survive only in place names and borrowed words. In other words, the word predates the arrival of the Germanic speakers who gave English most of its everyday vocabulary, so it may be one of the older words in the language. The word then changed shape through Middle English, where forms such as "goot", "got" and "gat" appeared before the modern spelling settled. Its survival is notable because goats were among the earliest domesticated animals, so the word had a long time to become entrenched in farming life. The word's sense of a lecherous man comes from the slang phrase "horny as a goat", which links the animal's reputation for restless, randy behaviour to human sexual appetite.

Synonyms: animal, billy, nanny, kid, herbivore