i. Livestock and beasts of burden (De pecoribus et iumentis) 1. Adam was the first to confer names on all the animals, assigning a name to each one at the moment of its creation, according to the position in nature that it holds. 2. The different nations have also given names to each of the animals in their own languages – for Adam did not assign these names in the Latin or Greek language, or in any of the languages of foreign nations, but in that language which, before the Flood, was the language of all peoples, which is called Hebrew. 3. In Latin they are called animals (animal) or ‘animate beings’ (animans), because they are animated (animare) by life and moved by spirit. 4. Quadrupeds (quadrupes) are so called because they walk on four feet (quattuor pedes); while these may be similar to livestock, they are nevertheless not under human control – such as deer, antelopes, onagers, et cetera. But they are not beasts, such as lions, nor are they beasts of burden, which could assist the useful activities of humans.

5. We call any animal that lacks human language and form ‘livestock’ (pecus). However, strictly speaking, the term ‘livestock’ is usually applied to those animals that are either suitable for food, such as sheep and swine, or are suitable for use by humans, such as horses and oxen. 6. There is a distinction between the terms pecora (i.e. the plural of pecus, neuter) and pecudes (i.e. the plural of pecus, feminine), for the ancients commonly used to say pecora with the meaning “all animals,” but pecudes were only those animals that are eaten, as if the word were pecuedes (cf. esse, 1st person edo, “eat”).