herd

B1 Topic:People & Society

Also spelled erd

US /hɝd/ UK /hɜːd/ See IPA manual

Freq #6174

Meanings

1

noun
A large group of animals of one kind, especially cattle or other livestock, that live or move together.

A herd of cattle grazed quietly in the field.
2

verb
To make people or animals move together as a group.

The teachers herded the children into a spare classroom.
3

noun
A large crowd of people, especially seen as acting the same way without thinking.

I was never one to follow the herd.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 verb · to make people or animals... crowd

Word family

Forms herdedherdingherdsherdsmanherdsmen

Derived forms flerdherdableherdbookherdboyherdessherdfulherdgroomherdlessherdlikeherdmanherdownerherdsboy

Related forms drove gather muster

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.

*(s)kerdʰ- Proto-Indo-European herde Middle English hierd Old English *herdu Proto-West Germanic *herdō Proto-Germanic

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# herd

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /hɝd/
**IPA (UK):** /hɜːd/
**Frequency rank:** 6174

## Meanings
1. A large group of animals of one kind, especially cattle or other livestock, that live or move together.
2. To make people or animals move together as a group.
3. A large crowd of people, especially seen as acting the same way without thinking.

## Examples
- A herd of cattle grazed quietly in the field.
- The teachers herded the children into a spare classroom.
- I was never one to follow the herd.

## Derived Forms
- flerd
- herdable
- herdbook
- herdboy
- herdess
- herdful
- herdgroom
- herdless
- herdlike
- herdman
- herdowner
- herdsboy

## Related Forms
- drove
- gather
- muster

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *(s)kerdʰ-
- Root: herde
- Root: hierd
- Root: *herdu
- Root: *herdō

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Herd comes 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. In current use, the main senses are “A large group of animals of one kind, especially cattle or other livestock, that live or move together” and “To make people or animals move together as a group”.

## Topics
- People & Society

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herd

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