c.1386, from Anglo-Fr.
vel, from O.Fr.
veel "a calf" (Fr.
veau), earlier
vedel, from L.
vitellus, dim. of
vitulus "calf," perhaps originally "yearling," if related, as some think, to Skt.
vatsah "calf," lit. "yearling;" Goth.
wiþrus, O.E.
weðer (see
wether; cf. also
veteran).