Wiktionary

herd

See also: Herd

English

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Pronunciation

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A herd of sheep.

Etymology 1

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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

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herd (plural herds)

  1. A number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper. [from 11th c.]
    a herd of cattle
    a herd of sheep
    a herd of goats
  2. Any collection of animals gathered or travelling in a company. [from 13th c.]
    • 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. [from 15th c.]
    • 1681, [John Dryden], Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem. […], 3rd edition, London: […] J[acob] T[onson] 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
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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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
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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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

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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
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terms derived from herd (person who tends a herd)
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terms related to herd (person who tends a herd)
Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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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
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See also

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Noun

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herd

  1. Alternative form of herde (“herd”)

Etymology 2

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Noun

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herd

  1. Alternative form of herde (“herder”)

Etymology 3

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Noun

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herd

  1. Alternative form of hird (“household”)

Norwegian Bokmål

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Verb

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herd

  1. imperative of herde

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology 1

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From Old Norse herðr.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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

  1. shoulder
    Synonyms: skulder, aksel

Etymology 2

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Alternative forms

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Participle

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herd (neuter herdt, definite singular and plural herde)

  1. past participle of herde

References

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Old High German

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *herþ.

Noun

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herd m

  1. hearth

Descendants

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  • Middle High German: hert
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