cattle: the herd of large livestock (oxen, cows, bulls, and calves), as opposed to the flock of sheep and goats
This is the everyday Hebrew word for cattle, the big livestock of the ancient Near East. It is a collective noun: one form usually names the whole herd rather than a single beast, the way English speakers say "the cattle were in the field" without making it plural. Throughout the Bible it stands in a standard pair with its smaller counterpart, the flock of sheep and goats, and together the two terms cover a person's entire holding of grazing animals.
Because one herd serves many purposes, the word reaches across several settings without ever changing its core sense. The same cattle are counted as a family's wealth, slaughtered to feed a guest or a crowd, harnessed to pull a plow or a cart, and brought to the altar as the costliest kind of sacrifice. When a single animal is meant, Hebrew most often says "a son of the herd," that is, a young bull or calf taken from the larger group.
The senses below sort these settings out, but they are shades of one idea, not different words. A reader can keep the picture of a herd of cattle in mind and let the context decide whether the focus is on the animals as property, as a meal or offering, or as working beasts.