1584: colt and filly Apr 16, 2019

These days 'colt' denotes young, especially male horses and 'foal' is the general term, both in terms of gender and even species, relating to related animals. It used to be somewhat reversed, insofar as 'colt' initially denoted 'young camel' or 'young donkey'. It is also related to the Norwegian 'kult' (tree-stump) as the root simply meant anything small and thick. It is also because of 'foal' that the related, feminine term 'filly' exists, although its pejorative uses are more contemporary. Support Word Facts on patreon.com/wordfacts