Herefords

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Beef cattle of a sturdy British breed, recognizable by their red coats and white faces and heads
2. A hardy breed of beef cattle originating in England, known for reddish bodies with white markings on the face
3. Red-coated beef cattle with white faces, a traditional English breed raised widely for meat production

Etymology: "Herefords" is simply the plural of "Hereford," the name of a breed of cattle, and the plural describes a herd of them. The breed takes its name from the English city and county of Hereford, which sits on the River Wye near the Welsh border. The city's name is older than the cattle. It comes from Old English "here," meaning "army," joined to "ford," a place where a river could be crossed on foot. So the name originally meant something like "army crossing," a reminder that the spot was once a practical passage for military forces. Middle English carried the name forward in the same form, and it survives almost unchanged in the modern place name.