schepherde

Middle English

Alternative forms

• scheepherd, schepherd, schepparde, schepperde, sheepeert, shepehurde, sheperde, shepherd, shepherde, shephirde, shepperde
• scheperd, scheperde, sheppard, shepperd, schiperd, shippard, schypard (Late Middle English)
• ssepherde, ssephurde (Kent, Southern)

Etymology

From Old English sċēaphierde, from Proto-West Germanic *skāpahirdī; equivalent to schep (“sheep”) +‎ herde (“herder”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃeːpˌ(h)eːrd(ə)/, /ˈʃɛpˌ(h)eːrd(ə)/, /-(h)iːrd(ə)/
• (with reduction) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɛpˌ(h)ɛrd(ə)/, /ˈʃɛpərd(ə)/

Noun

schepherde (plural schepherdes or (rare) schepherden)

1. shepherd (person who herds sheep)
   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[1], published c. 1410, Joon 10:11, page 49v, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     I am a good ſchepparde / a good ſchepparde ȝyueþ his lijf foꝛ his ſcheep

     I am a good shepherd; a good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep.

2. (figuratively) A spiritual leader or guide.

Descendants

• English: shepherd
• Scots: shepherd

References

• “shẹ̄̆p-hẹ̄̆rd(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.