Emily Dickinson Lexicon

NEAT, n. [Sax. neat, neten, niten, nyten; Sw. nöt; Dan. nöd. In Sax. geneat is a herdsman. In Spanish, ganado is cattle, and vermin; doubtless the same word with a prefix. In W. cnud is a group. Neat coincides with the root of need y in elements, and if connected with it, the sense is a herd or collection, from crowding, pressing; but this is doubtful.]

1. Cattle of the bovine genus, as bulls, oxen and cows. In America, this word is used in composition, as in neat's tongue, neat's foot oil, and tautologically in neat cattle.
2. A single cow. Tusser.