How to Say "Cow" in Spanish - How To Say Guide

vaca

/ˈbaka/feminine

The Spanish word for cow is vaca.

vaca refers to an adult female of the species Bos taurus. In scientific or academic contexts, the formal and technical term Bovino may be used.

Meaning: adult female of species Bos taurus (noun)

Is it said differently in some regions?

In Spain, the word ternera is often used to refer to beef, though in other regions it specifically means veal.

The pronunciation of vaca is /ˈbaka/.

In many Spanish-speaking cultures, the phrase sacar la vaca describes the act of pooling money together from a group to buy something. It treats the collective fund as a metaphorical cow to be milked.
The word vaca is used in the idiom vaca flaca, which describes a period of financial hardship or poverty.
The phrase está como una cabra literally means 'he or she is like a goat' but is used to say someone is completely crazy. While vaca is the word for cow, Spanish uses the goat to describe madness.

Maté a la vaca.
I killed the cow.
This sentence is useful for describing the action of killing the vaca.
Tatoeba #5229145 by cueyayotl, translation #8245029 by shekitten
Tom tiene una vaca.
Tom has a cow.
This sentence is useful for stating that Tom has a vaca.
Tatoeba #3660166 by cueyayotl, translation #2915483 by sabretou
¿Dónde está la vaca?
Where is the cow?
This sentence is useful for asking about the location of the vaca.
Tatoeba #5227593 by cueyayotl, translation #5228476 by solejar
Debo comprar leche de vaca en el supermercado.
I need to buy cow's milk at the supermarket.
En esta granja crían bovinos para la producción de carne.
In this farm, they raise cattle for meat production.
Vaca, ¿tienes hambre?
Cow, are you hungry?
La carne vacuna es muy sabrosa.
Beef is very tasty.
50 more sentences on Tatoeba

María and Daniel are walking through a farm.

Sources

Wiktionary, “cow” translations and entries vaca, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.

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