Word for a female camel?

April 14, 2005 11:41 AM

Is there a word for a female camel?

I found one obscure mention of a git being a female camel, but the OED disagrees.

posted by ori to Writing & Language (6 answers total)

Best answer: According to this article, a female camel is called a cow.

Helpful tip for anyone who decides to google 'female camel' - switch to 'advanced search' and omit the word 'toe' from your search ;)
posted by iconomy at 11:51 AM on April 14, 2005

Encyclopædia Britannica mentions “naqah” as an Arabic word for female camel.
posted by hilker at 12:02 PM on April 14, 2005

Response by poster: iconomy, according to the OED a cow is "The female of any bovine animal (as the ox, bison, or buffalo); most commonly applied to the female of the domestic species (Bos Taurus)." So you are right, strictly speaking-- But I wonder if there might be a more specific word -- this is for a translation (from Hebrew) and the poem hinges on this word.

(The hebrew word, if you're curious, is ????, na'aka, onomatopoeic for her call.)
posted by ori at 12:02 PM on April 14, 2005

Here's a chart for male and female names of different animals, and the female is indeed a cow.
posted by orange swan at 12:11 PM on April 14, 2005

Q. Jedha, the she-camel, was Jedhah on Slip 40.

A. She was a splendid beast.
posted by languagehat at 2:21 PM on April 14, 2005

Family Camelidae - Genus Camelus - Species Condoleezus Ricus


posted by randomstriker at 11:54 PM on April 14, 2005