Plural of heifer; young female cattle that have not yet had their first calf.
From Old English hægfore, possibly related to Old Norse heifu, the word entered Middle English to describe this specific life stage in cattle, with meanings evolving gradually over centuries.
The word 'heifer' historically had much more cultural weight—medieval English laws and tax records meticulously tracked heifers separately from other cattle because they represented future breeding capital and wealth.
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