The noun θρέμμα (from τρέφω, "to feed/nourish") originally meant any nursling or creature that is fed, but came to refer especially to domestic animals like sheep, goats, and cattle. Ancient authors used it for tame animals as opposed to wild beasts, and sometimes extended it metaphorically to household slaves (as "home-raised"). In John 4:12, the Samaritan woman asks whether Jesus is greater than Jacob, who gave "us" the well and whose flocks (θρέμματα) drank from it. The translations uniformly render it as livestock or flocks: Spanish "ganados," French "bétail," German "Vieh."