herd

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word herd. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word herd, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say herd in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word herd you have here. The definition of the word herd will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofherd, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: Herd

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Pronunciation

A herd of sheep.

Etymology 1

From Middle English herde, heerde, heorde, from Old English hierd, heord (“herd, flock; keeping, care, custody”), from Proto-West Germanic *herdu, from Proto-Germanic *herdō (“herd”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerdʰ- (“file, row, herd”). Cognate with German Herde, Danish hjord, Swedish hjord. Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian herdhe (“nest”) and Serbo-Croatian krdo.

Noun

herd (plural herds)

  1. A number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper.
    a herd of cattle
    a herd of sheep
    a herd of goats
  2. Any collection of animals gathered or travelling in a company.
    • 2007 March, J. Michael Fay, “Ivory Wars: Last Stand in Zakouma”, in National Geographic, section 47:
      Zakouma is the last place on Earth where you can see more than a thousand elephants on the move in a single, compact herd.
  3. (now usually derogatory) A crowd, a mass of people or things; a rabble.
    • 1681, [John Dryden], Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem. , 3rd edition, London: J T and are to be sold by W. Davis , published 1682, →OCLC, page 15:
      But far more numerous was the Herd of ſuch, / Who think too little, and who talk too much.
    • 1833 June 8, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table Talk:
      You can never interest the common herd in the abstract question.
    • 2001, Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections:
      There were herds of leather sofas and enough computers to ensure that no prospective matriculant or visiting parent could enter a room and not see at least one available keyboard, not even in the dining hall or field house.
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations

Verb

herd (third-person singular simple present herds, present participle herding, simple past and past participle herded)

  1. (intransitive) To unite or associate in a herd; to feed or run together, or in company.
    Sheep herd on many hills.
    • 1953, Janice Holt Giles, The Kentuckians:
      The women bunched up in little droves and let their tongues clack, and the men herded together and passed a jug around and, to tell the truth, let their tongues clack too.
    • 1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 167:
      Any predator that preys on animals that herd or school, has to be able to single out one individual to attack.
  2. (transitive) To unite or associate in a herd
  3. (transitive) To manage, care for or guard a herd
    He is employed to herd the goats.
  4. (intransitive) To associate; to ally oneself with, or place oneself among, a group or company.
  5. To move, or be moved, in a group. (of both animals and people)
    On alighting at the station, we were all herded over the footbridge and through a side exit.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English herde, from Old English hirde, hierde, from Proto-West Germanic *hirdī, from Proto-Germanic *hirdijaz. Cognate with German Hirte, Swedish herde, Danish hyrde.

Noun

herd (plural herds)

  1. (now rare) Someone who keeps a group of domestic animals.
    Synonyms: herder, herdsman
    • 1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide:
      John Dodds, the herd who bode in the place, was standing at the door, and he looked to see who was on the road so late.
    • 2000, Alasdair Grey, The Book of Prefaces, Bloomsbury, published 2002, page 38:
      Any talent which gives a good new thing to others is a miracle, but commentators have thought it extra miraculous that England's first known poet was an illiterate herd.
Derived terms
terms derived from herd (person who tends a herd)
Related terms
terms related to herd (person who tends a herd)
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

herd (third-person singular simple present herds, present participle herding, simple past and past participle herded)

  1. (intransitive, Scotland) To act as a herdsman or a shepherd.
  2. (transitive) To form or put into a herd.
  3. (transitive) To move or drive a herd.
    I heard the herd of cattle being herded home from a long way away.
Translations

See also

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

herd

  1. Alternative form of herde (“herd”)

Etymology 2

Noun

herd

  1. Alternative form of herde (“herder”)

Etymology 3

Noun

herd

  1. Alternative form of hird (“household”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

herd

  1. imperative of herde

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse herðr.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Noun

herd f (definite singular herda, indefinite plural herdar or herder, definite plural herdane or herdene)

  1. shoulder
    Synonyms: skulder, aksel

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

Participle

herd (neuter herdt, definite singular and plural herde)

  1. past participle of herde

References

  • “herd” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
  • Ivar Aasen (1850) “Hær”, in Ordbog over det norske Folkesprog‎ (in Danish), Oslo: Samlaget, published 2000

Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *herþ.

Noun

herd m

  1. hearth

Descendants

  • Middle High German: hert
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia