The
Modern English word goat comes from the
Old English gat which meant "she-goat", and this in turn derived from
Proto-Germanic *gaitaz (cf.
Old Norse and
Dutch geit "goat",
German Geiß "she-goat", and
Gothic gaits "goat"), ultimately from
Proto-Indo-European *ghaidos meaning "young goat" but also "jump" (cf.
Latin haedus "kid",
Old Church Slavonic zajęcǐ "hare",
Sanskrit jihīte "he jumps").
[4] To refer to the male of the species, Old English used bucca (which survives as "
buck") until a shift to he-goat (and she-goat) occurred in the late 12th century. "Nanny goat" originated in the 18th century and "billy goat" in the 19th.