herde

See also: Herde

Galician

Verb

herde

1. inflection of herdar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Middle English

Etymology 1

From the oblique forms of Old English heord, hierd, from Proto-West Germanic *herdu, from Proto-Germanic *herdō.

Alternative forms

• heerd, heerde, herd, hird, hirde
• heorde, hierde (Early Middle English)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛːrd(ə)/, /ˈheːrd(ə)/

Noun

herde (plural herdes)

2. herd (group of domesticated animals)
3. flock, swarm (group of wild animals)
4. (rare) followers of a religious leader

Descendants

• English: herd
• Scots: herd, hird

References

• “hẹ̄rd(e, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Old English hierde, from Proto-West Germanic *hirdī, from Proto-Germanic *hirdijaz.

Alternative forms

• heerde, heirde, heorde, herd, hert, heurde, hierde, hird, hirde, hurd, hurde, huyrde, hyrd, hyrde

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛːrd(ə)/, /ˈheːrd(ə)/
• (dialectal) IPA^(key): /ˈhiːrd(ə)/, /ˈhyːrd(ə)/

Noun

herde (plural herdes or (early) herden)

2. herdsman, herder
3. (figuratively) ruler, director, guide
4. (figuratively) spiritual leader

Related terms

• couherde
• gosherde
• herdeman
• oxeherde
• schepherde
• swynherde

Descendants

• English: herd
• Scots: herd, hird

References

• “hẹ̄rd(e, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

From Old English heorde, from Proto-West Germanic *heʀdā.

Alternative forms

• harde, hearde, heorde, hurde, hyrde

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛːrd(ə)/, /ˈheːrd(ə)/
• (Late Middle English) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛrd(ə)/, /ˈhard(ə)/

Noun

herde (plural herdes or herden)

1. (usually in the plural) A short, coarse flax or hemp fibre; a piece of hurds.

Descendants

• ⇒ English: hards, hurds (from the plural)
• ⇒ Scots: hards, harden, harn (from the plural)

References

• “hẹ̄rd(e, n.(3).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 4

Noun

herde

1. alternative form of erd

Etymology 5

Noun

herde

1. alternative form of hird (“household”)

Etymology 6

Verb

herde

1. first/third-person singular past indicative of heren
2. (dialectal) second-person singular past indicative of heren

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse herða.

Verb

herde (imperative herd, present tense herder, passive herdes, simple past and past participle herda or herdet, present participle herdende)

1. to harden; to toughen

Related terms

• forherde
• hard
• herdne

References

• “herde” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Old French

Etymology

From Frankish *herdu, from Proto-Germanic *herdō, from Proto-Indo-European *kerdʰ- (“file, row, herd”).

Noun

herde oblique singular, f (oblique plural herdes, nominative singular herde, nominative plural herdes)

1. herd (grouping of animals)

Descendants

• Middle French: harde
  • French: harde

Portuguese

Verb

herde

1. inflection of herdar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish hirþi, hirþe, herþe, herdhe, from Old Norse hirðir, from Proto-Germanic *hirdijaz. The ’boy’ sense developed because shepherds were typically young men.

Noun

herde c

1. a herder, a shepherd

   den gode herden ― the good shepherd

2. (dialectal, dated) a boy, a lad, young man

   Synonyms: pojke, kille, (south Swedish) here

Declension

Declension of herde

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	herde	herdes
	definite	herden	herdens
plural	indefinite	herdar	herdars
	definite	herdarna	herdarnas

Derived terms

• fåraherde (“shepherd”)
• herdeidyll (“a shepherd-idyll”)
• herdestav (“a herder's staff”)
• herdestund (“a tender moment; a dalliance”)

Related terms

• hjord (“herd”)

References

• herde in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• herde in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
• Herde. Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore. 21 October 2013.

Anagrams

• heder