Editing Deer (section)

==Etymology and terminology==

[[File:Lucas Cranach d.Ä. - Hirschjagd des Kurfürsten Friedrich des Weisen (Kunsthistorisches Museum).jpg|thumb|"The Stag Hunt of [[Frederick III, Elector of Saxony]]" by [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]], 1529]]
The word ''deer'' was originally broad in meaning, becoming more specific with time. [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|dēor}} and [[Middle English]] {{lang|enm|der}} meant a wild animal of any kind. <!--In Shakespeare's time, "small deer" meant any type of petty game, not worth pursuing,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Small+deer |title=Small deer |access-date=12 April 2016}}</ref> in contrast to ''[[cattle]]'', which then meant any sort of domestic livestock that could be removed from the land, related to personal-property ownership, as with modern ''[[chattel]]'' (property) and [[financial capital| financial ''capital'']]. Wild animals in a forest were considered part of [[real estate]], and sold with the land.--> Cognates of Old English {{lang|ang|dēor}} in other dead [[Germanic languages]] have the general sense of ''animal'', such as [[Old High German]] ''tior'', [[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|djur}} or {{lang|non|dȳr}}, [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''dius'', [[Old Saxon]] ''dier'', and [[Old Frisian]] ''diar''.<ref name="Ref_">{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/75/D0087500.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040325232020/http://www.bartleby.com/61/75/D0087500.html |archive-date=25 March 2004 |chapter=deer|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |edition=4th |year=2000}}</ref> This general sense gave way to the modern English sense by the end of the Middle English period, around 1500. All modern Germanic languages save English and Scots retain the more general sense: for example, [[Dutch language|Dutch]]/[[West Frisian language|Frisian]] {{lang|nl|dier}}, [[German language|German]] {{lang|de|Tier}}, and [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] ''dyr'' mean {{gloss|animal}}.<ref>{{cite web |last=Harper |first=Douglas |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |title=Deer |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=deer |access-date=7 June 2012}}</ref>

For many types of deer in modern English usage, the male is a ''buck'' and the female a ''doe'', but the terms vary with dialect, and according to the size of the species. The male [[red deer]] is a ''stag'', while for other large species the male is a ''bull'', the female a ''cow'', as in cattle. In older usage, the male of any species is a ''[[Hart (deer)|hart]]'', especially if over five years old, and the female is a ''hind'', especially if three or more years old.<ref>[[OED]], s.v. ''hart'' and ''hind''</ref> The young of small species is a ''fawn'' and of large species a ''[[calf (animal)|calf]]''; a very small young may be a ''kid''. A castrated male is a ''havier''.<ref name=Brander159>{{cite book |last=Brander |first=Michael |title=Deer Stalking in Britain |publisher=Sportsman's Press |publication-place=London |date=1986 |isbn=0-948253-05-3 |page=159}}</ref><ref>Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, published 1913 by G. & C. Merriam Co.</ref> A group of any species is a ''herd''. The [[adjective]] of relation is ''[[Wiktionary:cervine|cervine]]''; like the family name ''Cervidae'', this is from {{langx|la|cervus}}, meaning {{gloss|stag}} or {{gloss|deer}}.