Sacred Cow, Holy Bull The word cattle comes from the Latin word “capital”. It means wealth or property. At one time, capital meant all types of domestic animals. Through English and French usage it has come to refer specifically to bovines. A bovine is an animal whose stomach is divided into chambers. They have an even number of toes on their hoofs and their horns are hollow. A bull is a male bovine and a cow is a female bovine. All animals are respected by the Hindus in India, but of all the animals the bovine is the most sacred. Their strong belief in the bull was one of chief religious beliefs of the Indus Valley I