Meaning & use
kine
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Meaning
nounpluralarchaic
Cattle, especially cows, as named in older English and in poetry or biblical-style writing.
Grammar: Takes a plural verb: the kine were grazing, not the kine was grazing.
Patterns
- a herd of kine
- the farmer's kine
The old ballad describes shepherds and their kine drifting down to the river at dusk.
In the story, seven fat kine come up out of the water and are devoured by seven lean ones.
She read the farmer's inventory aloud: forty sheep, a dozen kine and two plough horses.
Common combinations
- fat kine
- The preacher spoke of seven fat kine as a sign of coming plenty.
- lean kine
- Lean kine wandered the dry pasture looking for any green shoots.
- herd of kine
- A herd of kine stood motionless in the morning mist.
- the lowing kine
- The poem opens with the lowing kine heading home across the meadow.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cattle
- Cattle is the ordinary modern word for the whole group of animals, whereas kine sounds antique and is used for effect.
- cows
- Cows is the everyday plural and refers to adult females, while kine sounds poetic and can feel more general.
- oxen
- Oxen names castrated bulls used for hauling, so it is narrower than kine, which suggests ordinary cattle.
Word family
Commonly confused: kine or kind?
kine vs kind
Kind is a common word meaning type or gentle, and sounds different from kine, which rhymes with fine.
Practice
Which sentence uses kine correctly?
Choose one answer.
Kine is an old plural meaning cattle, so it takes a plural verb (were). It is not singular and has nothing to do with kindness.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “kine”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.