The word cattle is the Old Norman variant of Old French chatel, chattel, and today cheptel (derived from Latin capitalis, "of the head"), which was once synonymous with general movable personal property.
These generally include items such as furniture, clothing, jewelry, art, writings, or household goods.
The statutes of limitations or prescriptive periods are usually shorter when dealing with personal or movable property.
In the United States, Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code governs the creation and enforcement of security interests in most (but not all) types of personal property.
There is no similar institution to the mortgage in the civil law, however a hypothec is a device to secure real rights against property.
The distinction between tangible and intangible personal property is also significant in some of the jurisdictions which impose sales taxes.