beef
The origin and history of beef.
Etymology
From Old French buef ("ox"), from Latin bovem, the same root that gives us "bovine." The slang sense meaning "a grudge" is American, first recorded as a verb ("to complain") in the late 1800s.
Class of 1800
beef first entered the language around 1800. Other words from the same year:
See the full Class of 1800 →