English Words Explained: 2) mooncalf

A mooncalf is 'a foolish person' who spends their time dreaming. This word is not at all common these days, but was popular in the past. I first heard it in Shakespeare's The Tempest, so I always associate with that play.

Caliban the 'mooncalf' from a 2010 production of Shakespeare's The Tempest

History

Originally, a mooncalf was a stillborn (殰) calf. A calf is, of course, a baby cow.

Isn't he cute?

People called the abortive fetus of a cow a mooncalf because they held superstitious beliefs about the moon having a sinister effect on unborn calves.

The term later came to be used to refer to monsters and other grotesque things. When characters in Shakespeare's The Tempest call Caliban a mooncalf, they are saying that he is deformed. The word also appears in a H.G. Wells story and some of the Harry Potter books.

These days, however, the word is rarely used and really only retains the meaning of 'born fool'.

Shakespeare

Below is a clip is from The Tempest: You might notice that Caliban, the so-called mooncalf, says "this island is mine". He is the sole indigeneous person in the play, whereas all of the other characters are newcomers. It is interesting to reflect that Shakespeare was writing at a time of exploration, when Europeans were ecnountering people from all over the world. The Tempest reflects and comments upon many of the prejudices that Europeans then had against the native population of the New World. In this context, calling Caliban a mooncalf seems extraordinary.