[hohl-stahyn, -steen; for 2 also Ger. hohl-shtahyn] 
| 1. | Also called Hol⋅stein-Frie⋅sian [hohl-stahyn-free-zhuh n, -steen-] . one of a breed of black-and-white dairy cattle, raised originally in North Holland and Friesland, that yields large quantities of milk having a low content of butterfat. |
| 2. | a region in N Germany, at the base of the peninsula of Jutland: a former duchy. |
| Hol·stein 1 (hōl'stīn', -stēn') A region and former duchy of northern Germany at the base of the Jutland Peninsula. It became a duchy under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Empire in 1474 and was often controlled by Denmark in the years that followed. |
| Hol·stein 2 (hōl'stīn', -stēn') n. Any of a breed of large black and white dairy cattle originally developed in Friesland. [After Holstein1.] |
Holstein
historic and cultural region occupying the southern Jutland Peninsula between the Eider and Elbe rivers, now comprising the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein Land (state) in northern Germany. Holstein was created as a county of the Holy Roman Empire in 1111. It came under a personal union with the Danish king in 1459, an arrangement which caused much unrest among the German majority. In 1474 Holstein was raised to the rank of a duchy in the Holy Roman Empire and after 1815 in the German Confederation. Attempts by Denmark to annex Holstein and Schleswig led to war with Austria and Prussia in 1864. Denmark was defeated and, as a result, Holstein was annexed by Prussia and incorporated with Schleswig as a single Prussian province by the Peace of Prague (1866).
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