herd

Meaning

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. (derogatory, usually) A crowd, a mass of people or things; a rabble.

Verb

1. (intransitive) To unite or associate in a herd; to feed or run together, or in company.
2. (transitive) To unite or associate in a herd
3. (transitive) To manage, care for or guard a herd
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)

Verb

1. (Scotland, intransitive) 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.

Synonyms

flock

group

crowd

pack

swarm

drove

collection

bevy

school

🏫

multitude

shepherd

set

horde

troop

shoal

heap

tend

graze

drive

being

possessions

company

gaggle

band

living creature

party

🥳

mob

round up

pride

pasture

rabble

herdsman

colony

class

family

👪

flight

✈️

throng

care for

ruck

pod

corner

are

herder

lead

gang

cluster

clump

livestock

clan

assembly

Translations

troupeau

gregge

rebaño

mandria

Herde

manada

grex

branco

αγέλη

armento

kudde

rebanho

hato

bande

Pronounced as (IPA)

/hɜːd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: herde

Inherited from Old English: hierd

Cognate with German: Herde

Cognate with Danish: hjord

Cognate with Swedish: hjord

Cognate with Albanian: herdhe

Cognate with Serbo-Croatian: krdo

Inherited from Old English: hirde

Cognate with German: Hirte

Cognate with Swedish: herde

Cognate with Danish: hyrde

In summary

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.