Veau

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A French term signifying the meat of a young cow prepared for food ; an alternate word sometimes used in English culinary contexts to describe this meat ; historically or regionally referring to the animal itself before slaughter
2. Referring to the flesh of a juvenile bovine utilized in gastronomy ; sometimes borrowed in English to denote dishes made from this meat ; can also imply the calf prior to being processed for consumption
3. Describing young cattle's meat commonly featured in French cuisine ; occasionally appearing in English for specialty or gourmet dishes involving this animal's flesh ; may also identify the animal before it becomes food

Etymology: In Latin, "vitulus" meant calf, and its diminutive "vitellus" meant little calf. Through Old French "veel", this became the modern French "veau", which means both the animal and the meat from it. English borrowed the Old French form as "veal" in the Middle Ages, so the two languages share a single ancestor. Latin "vitellus" also meant the yolk of an egg, and that sense survives in the scientific adjective "vitelline", used for yolk-related structures in biology. A calf and an egg yolk may seem unrelated, but both come from the same Latin root.

Synonyms: calf meat, veal