English Explanatory Dictionary

herd

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper.
  2. Any collection of animals gathered or travelling in a company.
  3. A crowd, a mass of people or things; a rabble.
verb
  1. To unite or associate in a herd; to feed or run together, or in company.
  2. To unite or associate in a herd
  3. To manage, care for or guard a herd
  4. 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)
noun
  1. Someone who keeps a group of domestic animals.
verb
  1. To act as a herdsman or a shepherd.
  2. To form or put into a herd.
  3. To move or drive a herd.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/hɜːd/ /hɝd/ En-us-herd.ogg

Word forms

herd herds herding herded

Etymology

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 *(s)kerdʰ- (“file, row, herd”). Cognate with German Herde, Danish hjord, Swedish hjord. Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian herdhe (“nest”) and Serbo-Croatian krdo.

Synonyms

wrangle herder herdsman

Related words

drove gather muster ride herd on round up

Derived words

bot herd flerd herd behaviour herd boar herdbook herdboy herdess herdful herdgroom herd immunity herd instinct herdless herdlike herdman herd mentality herdowner herd path herdsboy herdswoman herdthink herdwide interherd intraherd put the herd on someone share herd share-herd subherd thin the herd thundering herd thundering herd problem herdable herd cats herd together misherd unherded bearherd beeherd cowherd goatherd gooseherd gosherd Hird hogherd horseherd Hurd neatherd oxherd pigherd ride herd on shepherd swanherd swineherd VAXherd

Translations

Arabic: رَعَى Esperanto: paŝti Finnish: kokoontua Finnish: laumautua Finnish: koota yhteen Finnish: paimentaa French: rassembler German: hüten Italian: radunare Macedonian: у́шка Māori: whiu Portuguese: arrebanhar-se Spanish: conducir Swedish: valla Tocharian B: kraup- Vietnamese: dồn Latin: gregō
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