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pollard

pollard

1 9.9
An animal, usually with horns, that has had its horns removed
  • noun
  • /ˈpɒl.ərd/
  • UK
translation icon : pollard
  • Would Master Hopkins help with the pollard for the pig's swill?

Examples

  • During the visit to the farm, we observed several pollard cows grazing peacefully in the field.

  • The farmer decided to keep only the pollard sheep, which had lost their horns after shedding.

  • Took a long walk with Ilse, as far as the last row of pollard willows to be found around here.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • The wildlife documentary featured a pollard deer that had just shed its antlers last season.

Surface Forms

pollard singular
pollards plural

Morphology

pollard = poll (semi-transparent) = poll + ard

Formed from 'poll' + the suffix '-ard'; the connection to cutting/removing the head/horns is lexical but somewhat specialized and '-ard' is not fully productive, so learners may not predict the exact meaning.

Etymology

Pollard comes from the old word poll meaning 'head' or 'top'. A helpful way to remember it is that when an animal loses its horns the top of its head looks changed, so a pollard is an animal that has had its horns removed or has shed them.