goat

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun any of numerous agile ruminants related to sheep but having a beard and straight horns
  2. noun a victim of ridicule or pranks
  3. noun (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Capricorn

Etymology

From Middle English goot, got, gat, from Old English gāt, from Proto-West Germanic *gait, from Proto-Germanic *gaits, from a substrate language. The sense of lecherous man derives from the slang expression "horny as a goat".

In classic literature

Synonyms

caprine animal

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