herdn.1
/həːd/, U.S. /hərd/ 1. † c. figurative. A spiritual flock. Cf. flock n.1 4. Obsolete.
a. A company of domestic animals of one kind, kept together under the charge of one or more persons. (The notion of a keeper is now little present, and the sense is scarcely distinct from sense 2.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] > herd or flock
herda1000
flockc1200
routc1300
flowinga1382
rabblec1400
meinie1481
many1579
school?1590
plump1591
charm1801
band1824
mob1828
the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] > herd or flock > of domestic animals
herda1000
droveOE
flock1340
drift?c1450
town herd1605
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > bos taurus or ox > [noun] > herd
herd1577
bunch1884
a1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 274/18 Arimentum, hiord.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxvi. 31 Þurh þæs hyrdes slege byð seo heord todræfed.
c1000 Ælfric Exodus iii. 1 He draf his heorde to inneweardum ðam westene.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope iii. vi The wulf whiche is enemy of thy heerd.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Mark v. f. xlixv There was there nye vnto the mountayns a greate heerd of swyne fedinge.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 3v My heardes of cattel lowing hard by me.
1693 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Metamorphoses i, in Examen Poeticum 59 With this, he did a Herd of Goats controul.
1751 T. Gray Elegy i. 5 The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea.
1865 H. H. Dixon Field & Fern: North vii. 134 A well-known breeder has a herd of shorthorns.
b. As contrasted with flock (see flock n.1 3), esp. in the phrase herds and flocks, herd is restricted to cattle or bovine domestic animals.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] > herd or flock > as opposed to flock
herd1587
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. i. 6 But the tame..doo naturally liue in flockes and heardes.
1596 Bp. W. Barlow tr. L. Lavater Three Christian Serm. i. 16 Heards and flockes of cattle and sheepe perish.
1611 Bible (King James) Lev. xxvii. 32 Concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock. View more context for this quotation
1740 C. Pitt tr. Virgil Æneid I. iii. 112 Our Flocks to slaughter, and our Herds destroy.
1873 C. Robinson New S. Wales 29 Multitudinous as our flocks and herds have become.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > laity > [noun]
sheepc825
herdc1000
layc1330
flocka1340
fold1340
clergy1382
temporalty1387
lay-feec1425
temporalityc1485
laity?1541
lealty1548
people1549
layperson1972
c1000 Inst. Polity in B. Thorpe Anc. Laws Eng. (1840) II. 304 Þæ t he sy..rihtwis hyrde ofer cristene heorde.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 95 Erest he scal hine seolfne wið sunnan isteoran and seoððan his heorde.
a1625 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) i. iv. 5 Th' imparciall Gods, who from the mounted heavens View us their mortall Heard, behold who erre.
2.
a. A company of animals of any kind, feeding or travelling in company; a school (of whales, porpoises, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] > group (of same species)
herdc1275
kennel1641
gang1657
colony1712
society1752
society1772
mores1911
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 155 Heo funden ane heorde [c1300 Otho hierde] of heorten.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2988 Gnattes hird ðor ðicke up-wond.
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women Dido. 1212 The hirde of hertis Is I-founde a-non.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 236/2 Heerde, or flok of beestys, what so euyr they be, polia.
?1478 Lydgate's Horse, Goose & Sheep (Caxton) (1822) 30 An Herde of swannys, An Herde of cranys, An Herde of wrennys, An Herde of alle dere.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. vii. sig. Hh8v An Hynd forth singled from the heard.
1675 H. Teonge Diary (1825) 7 The porpuses com in heards on boath syds the ship.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 400 Herds of Howling Wolves that stun the Sailors Ears.
1735 W. Somervile Chace iii. 324 The grisly Boar is singled from his Herd.
1839 T. Beale Nat. Hist. Sperm Whale 20 The groups, herds, or ‘schools’, which are formed by the sperm whale, are of two kinds.
c1847 in Knowledge (1883) 188/2 Herds of the Actinia bellis in prime condition.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xvi. 118 We came upon the tracks of a herd of Chamois.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) III. 682 Herds of elephants.
1897 Daily News 15 July 5/5 We have ascertained that the seal herd is not in danger of extinction.
b. to break herd: to break away from or leave the herd; hence, to take an independent course.
ΚΠ
1768 Woman of Honor I. 151 They dare not break herd, afraid of the ridicule of idiots for not resembling them.
3.
a. A large company of people; a multitude, host. Now always in a disparaging sense: cf. sense 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > of people or animals > regarded as a whole or a body of people gathered > large or numerous
weredc725
herec855
heap971
trumec1380
multitudea1382
herda1400
swarm1423
confluence1447
puissance?a1475
army?1518
multitudine1547
bike1554
conflux1702
snarl1775
rallya1794
populace1823
hive1834
skreeda1838
skit1913
rort1941
a1400 St. Alexius (Vernon MS.) 182 Sittinge in a chircheȝerde Among pore men an herde.
1486 Bk. St. Albans F vj An Herde of harlottys.
1693 J. Dryden tr. Juvenal Satire XIV 55 in J. Dryden Satires Juvenal & Persius 278 Where one Cato Shines, Count a degenerate Herd of Catilines.
1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vi. 5 He retir'd in the noon day, and in the face of that Rebellious Herd from Wells to Somerton.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. iv. ix. 290 A herd of parasites and sycophants.
a1856 H. Miller Cruise of Betsey (1858) ii. ii. 247 Herds of ragged children playing in the lanes.
b. the herd: the multitude, the common people, the rabble. Often qualified by common, vulgar, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > [noun]
folkc888
peoplea1325
frapec1330
commona1350
common peoplea1382
commonsa1382
commontya1387
communityc1400
meiniec1400
commonaltya1425
commonsa1500
vulgarsa1513
many1526
meinie1532
multitude1535
the many-headed beast (also monster)1537
number1542
ignobility1546
commonitya1550
popular1554
populace1572
popularya1578
vulgarity?1577
populacya1583
rout1589
the vulgar1590
plebs1591
mobile vulgusc1599
popularity1599
ignoble1603
the million1604
plebe1612
plebeity1614
the common filea1616
the herda1616
civils1644
commonality1649
democracy1656
menu1658
mobile1676
crowd1683
vulgusa1687
mob1691
Pimlico parliament?1774
citizenry1795
polloi1803
demos1831
many-headed1836
hoi polloi1837
the masses1837
citizenhood1843
John Q.1922
wimble-wamble1937
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) i. ii. 264 When he perceiu'd the common Heard was glad he refus'd the Crowne. View more context for this quotation
1665 J. Glanvill Sciri Tuum: Authors Defense To T. Albius sig. a, in Scepsis Scientifica For the good opinion of the rash and inconsiderate Herd of Mankind.
1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. i, in Poems 35 Fear, shame, and want, the thoughtless herd pursue.
1835 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece I. vi The legitimate chief was distinguished from the vulgar herd..by his robust frame.
1894 W. E. Gladstone tr. Horace Odes iii. ii. 30 Neglected, Jove oft smites good men Mixed with the guilty herd.
c. Of things: a great number, a mass.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > (a) great quantity or amount
felec825
muchc1230
good wone1297
plentyc1300
bushelc1374
sight1390
mickle-whata1393
forcea1400
manynessa1400
multitudea1400
packc1400
a good dealc1430
greata1450
sackful1484
power1489
horseloadc1500
mile1508
lump1523
a deal?1532
peckc1535
heapa1547
mass1566
mass1569
gallon1575
armful1579
cart-load1587
mickle1599
bushelful1600–12
a load1609
wreck1612
parisha1616
herd1618
fair share1650
heapa1661
muchness1674
reams1681
hantle1693
mort1694
doll?1719
lift1755
acre1759
beaucoup1760
ton1770
boxload1795
boatload1807
lot1811
dollop1819
swag1819
faggald1824
screed1826
Niagara1828
wad1828
lashings1829
butt1831
slew1839
ocean1840
any amount (of)1848
rake1851
slather1857
horde1860
torrent1864
sheaf1865
oodlesa1867
dead load1869
scad1869
stack1870
jorum1872
a heap sight1874
firlot1883
oodlings1886
chunka1889
whips1888
God's quantity1895
streetful1901
bag1917
fid1920
fleetful1923
mob1927
bucketload1930
pisspot1944
shitload1954
megaton1957
mob-o-ton1975
gazillion1978
buttload1988
shit ton1991
1618 J. Taylor Wks. (1872) Introd. 18 Seeing the herd of hireling coaches are more than the wherries on the Thames.
1751 J. Harris Hermes i. vi. 92 We are now to descend to the common Herd of Attributives, such as black and white.
4. Psychology. Denoting feelings, actions, thoughts, etc., common to a large company of people; esp. herd instinct n. an instinctive tendency to think and act as one of a crowd. Cf. sense 3.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > social psychology > group psychology > [adjective] > common to large group
herd1908
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > opinion held by group > [noun] > tendency to follow
herd instinct1908
herd mentality1920
1908 W. Trotter in Sociol. Rev. 1 227 (title) Herd instinct and its bearing on the psychology of civilised man.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 22 Aug. 16/1 The fundamental assumptions of the Liberal and the Conservative are hostile, and are the outcome of herd tradition.
1912 J. London Let. 18 Jan. (1966) 359 There is a sort of herd psychology in this.
1914 G. B. Shaw Androcles & Lion (1916) 46 That herd instinct which makes men abhor all departures from custom.
1919 M. K. Bradby Psycho-anal. 113 Not even abandonment to ‘herd enthusiasm’ could destroy the terrible loneliness of death.
1920 B. Russell Pract. & Theory Bolshevism I. 125 The Marxian assumes that a man's ‘herd’ from the point of view of herd-instinct, is his class.
1922 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Oct. 118 The love complex, the religion complex, the herd complex and many others.
1923 J. S. Huxley Ess. Biologist vii. 275 The herd ideas..may be those of a nation or of a stratum within the nation.
1924 W. B. Selbie Psychol. Relig. 148 Man is a gregarious animal, and even in his civilized condition never quite loses his herd consciousness.
1927 N. P. Williams Ideas of Fall & Orig. Sin p. xxix We therefore identify the ‘inherited infirmity’ of theology with ‘inherited weakness of herd-complex’.
1927 M. Sadleir Trollope: Comm. ii. 49 She was..lacking in that pride of individuality which throws persons of a different type into automatic opposition to herd-bias.
1928 G. B. Shaw Intell. Woman's Guide Socialism v. 11 Our minds are mostly herd minds, with only a scrap of individual mind on top.
1932 Q. D. Leavis Fiction & Reading Public iii. 67 These writers are using the technique of Marie Corelli..to work upon and solidify herd prejudice.
1939 J. Masefield Live & Kicking Ned 344 What saved us was the fact that Mimbo is an animal passion or herd-madness, which blinds each of the herd to all other things than the herd-enemy.
1942 R. A. Knox In Soft Garments xxi. 162 There is such a thing as herd-morality. You notice it especially in matters like divorce, where social considerations necessarily apply.
1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day ii. 43 At the age of eight or nine the herd instinct begins to operate.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
herd-breed n.
ΚΠ
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 233 To prouide Goates for heard-breed and profit.
herd-bull n.
herd-driver n.
ΚΠ
1495 Trevisa's Bartholomeus De Proprietatibus Rerum (de Worde) xviii. xiv. sig. aaviiiv/1 Oxen & hartes loue melodye by kynde..And this hyrde dryuer [a1450 Bodl. þis herde and dryuer] rulyth them to drawe euyn.
herd-flock n.
ΚΠ
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis i. 15 From their region with prede too gather an heardflock.
herd-stall n.
ΚΠ
1839 H. H. Milman Deborah's Hymn in Wks. II. 357 Why satt'st thou idle, Reuben, 'mid thy herd-stalls?
herd-swarm n.
ΚΠ
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis i. 13 Clustred in heerdswarme Feaze away thee droane bees with sting, from maunger, or hiuecot.
b.
herd-abandoned adj.
ΚΠ
1821 P. B. Shelley Adonais xxxiii. 18 A herd-abandoned deer.
C2.
herd-test n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > dairy farming > [noun] > tests on animal or produce
herd-testing1911
test1928
phosphatase test1933
herd-test1962
1962 J. N. Winburne Dict. Agric. 374/2 Herd test, a type of semiofficial testing for milk production in which the whole herd of cows of milking age are included.
herd-tester n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > dairy farming > [noun] > tests on animal or produce > tester of produce
herd-tester1960
1960 B. Crump Good Keen Man 94 He told me..all about one of his sisters who was training to be a herd-tester.
1966 G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. in Austral. & N.Z. vii. 149 A herd-tester is a man or woman who goes from farm to farm sampling milk to test cows for their productivity and the fat content of their milk.
herd-testing n. testing of the butterfat content of the milk from cows of a specified herd and their productivity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > dairy farming > [noun] > tests on animal or produce
herd-testing1911
test1928
phosphatase test1933
herd-test1962
1911 Jrnl. Dept. Agric. (N.Z.) 15 July 26 A striking case of the value of testing the individual members of a herd is reported from a district where a herd-testing association has been established.
1956 A. H. R. Amess & H. C. Johnson Dairying (ed. 4) xv. 195 All herd-testing is now done by the New Zealand Herd Improvement Associations under direction from the Dairy Board.
Derivatives
herdlike adj.
herdwise adv. like a herd.
ΚΠ
1871 B. Taylor tr. J. W. von Goethe Faust (Boston ed.) I. xxi. 253 Herd-wise hieing Through the moss and through the heather!
Draft additions January 2011
to run (also go) with the herd: to conform to prevailing opinions or tendencies. Cf. to swim with the stream at swim v. 1c.
ΚΠ
1681 R. Baxter Poet. Fragm. 47 The common fury and their Lusts obey: Run with the Herd: Mirth and the Rabbles noise Drown Reason's Plea.
1695 J. Locke Reasonableness of Christianity 259 They were fain, in their outward Professions and Worship, to go with the Herd, and keep to the Religion established by Law.
1779 Monthly Rev. Aug. 153 So far our Author runs with the herd; but in order to supply the deficiencies of all who wrote before him, he adds, [etc.].
1863 ‘Aleph’ London Scenes & London People 355 Individuals often suppose they are absolute masters of their own actions at the moment they are running with the herd or swimming with the stream.
1918 J. Hay Mrs Marden's Ordeal xxii. 234 We do as others do, because it is so easy to run with the herd. And yet, I dare say, nobody has ever yet come very close to the stars by running with the herd.
1950 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 16 Oct. 11/1 Coaches [in American football]..go with the herd in self-defense.
1995 Artichoke Spring 11/1 Why run with the herd?.. I'm hopelessly independent.
2010 Jerusalem Post (Nexis) 18 Apr. 13 His pro-Israel stance can be seen as another aspect of his refusal to run with the herd.
Draft additions March 2020
herd immunity n. resistance to the spread of a contagious disease within a population (in earliest use, a herd of cattle) that results if a sufficiently high proportion of individuals are immune to the disease, typically as a result of having been vaccinated against it; an instance of this.
ΚΠ
1917 A. Eichhorn & G. M. Potter Contagious Abortion of Cattle (U.S. Dept. Agric. Farmers' Bull. No. 790) 9 A herd immunity seems to have developed as the result of keeping the aborting cows and raising the calves.
1927 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 21 May 925/2 Diphtheria prevalence among close-quartered families may be held in check by the ‘herd’ immunity, induced by minimal doses of infection.
2019 Birmingham Evening Mail (Nexis) 13 July 16 The World Health Organisation recommends a threshold of 95 per cent immunization coverage to achieve so-called 'herd immunity' [against measles].
Draft additions June 2021
herd mentality n. the tendency of people in a group to align their thinking or behaviour with the standards established by or expected of that group; cf. sense 4.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > opinion held by group > [noun] > tendency to follow
herd instinct1908
herd mentality1920
1920 E. Paul & C. Paul tr. R. Rolland Forerunners viii. 44 Throughout the ages, free men have been few in number. With the continued spread of herd mentality the number seems not unlikely to grow smaller yet.
1947 M. Coryn Alone among Men xi. 152 Monsieur de Talleyrand..had been just a little afraid of an outburst of those popular slogans that, with the masses, take the place of thought. There seemed to be little of herd-mentality about the young man.
2008 Ecologist July 40/3 One reason stock markets are so volatile is that stock traders have a herd mentality—buying and selling in unison.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
herdn.2
1. A keeper of a herd or flock of domestic animals; a herdsman. Now usually with word prefixed, as cowherd, swineherd, but in Scotland and north of England still a common word for shepherd.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [noun] > herding > herdsman or woman
herdc725
herdmanc1000
lookera1225
tripherd1305
hogger1327
pastorc1400
pastorelc1440
leader1495
pasture-man1547
herd-maid1588
herdsman1603
pastoral1607
feeder1611
creaght1634
herder1635
keep1641
creaghter1653
town herd1760
herd-boy1799
stock-keeper1806
senn1826
herd-girla1856
herd-laddie1865
pastoralist1879
c725 Corpus Gloss. 313 Bobulcus, hriðhiorde.
c897 K. Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care xvii. 109 Ure ealdan fædras wæron ceapes hierdas.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xxv. 32 Swa swa se hyrde [Lindisf. & Rushw. hiorde; Hatton heorde] asyndraþ ða scep fram tyccenum.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 97 Amos het a reoðer heorde.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 35 Þe engel cudde þe herdes..þat þe helende was þerinne iboren.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 456 He was hirde wittere and wal.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. x. 267 Hoow! hurde! wher is þyn hounde?
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 1059 Þis abel was a hird for fee.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 19488 Sua dos þe heirdes þat er gode.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 605 Ther nas Baillyf. hierde [v.r. herde] nor oother hyne That he knew his sleyghte and his couyne.
a1492 W. Caxton tr. Vitas Patrum (1495) ii. f. ccxxviiv/2 He founde a heerde or keper of Camels.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xii. 118 Herkyn, hyrdes! Awake!
1513 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid iii. Prol. 7 Hornyt Lady, paill Cynthia, nocht brycht..That slepand kist the hird Endymione.
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) II. 2075/1 Master Tyrrels servaunt..being his Herd at a farme of hys.
1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn ii. sig. C3 As sheepe without their heard.
1592 in J. Barmby Memorials St. Giles's, Durham (1896) 17 Paid more to the hurd for mendinge certayn gapes in the more dyke.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene vi. ix. sig. Gg3 Whereas the Heardes were keeping of their neat. View more context for this quotation
1650 J. Row & J. Row Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1842) 451 When I was a young lad I wes a herd, and keeped the Sisters of the Sheines's sheep.
a1753 P. Drake Memoirs (1755) I. x. 74 The Herd sounding a Horn along the Streets, the Swine run from all Parts of the Town, to join and follow him.
1803 Gazetteer Scotl. at Mull They are obliged to employ herds to their cattle.
1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words Herd, a keeper of cattle.
1877 L. Morris Epic of Hades i. 26 Unpolluted meads, where never herd Drives his white flock.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > pastor > [noun]
herd971
shepherda1300
herdmanc1320
angelc1384
pastora1387
flock-feeder1545
dominea1679
971 Blickl. Hom. 191 Þanc ic do, Crist þu goda hyrde.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 6841 Forr crist iss..hirde þatt uss fedeþþ.
c1200 Vices & Virtues (1888) 43 Ðe gastliche hierdes, ðe sculen boðe lokin and stieren.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 41 Ure louerd ihesu crist is alre herdene herde.
c1380 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 363 Crist was þe beste herd and so he puttide his lyf for his sheep.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19384 Þat hirdes war o crist scepe.
c1440 Gesta Romanorum (Harl.) xxiv. 92 Neuertheles then þe hurde, scil. a prechour, comyth often tyme.
1549–62 T. Sternhold & J. Hopkins Whole Bk. Psalms lxxx Thou Herde that Israell doost keepe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > [noun] > one who looks after > guardian or custodian
herd971
wardena1290
keepera1300
yemerc1330
looker1340
tutor1377
actorc1384
conservator1447
custosc1450
guardian1477
custodier?c1500
custode1543
guardant1592
custodian1602
supervisor1691
vigilant1822
971 Blickl. Hom. 177 Þa he bebyrged wæs, settan him hyrdas to.
OE Beowulf 610 Gehyrde on Beowulfe folces hyrde fæstrædne geþoht.
OE Genesis 1007 Ne ic hyrde wæs broðer mines.
a1000 Boeth. Metr. xiii. 61 Hire agenes huses hirde.
a1000 Boeth. Metr. xxvi. 16 Þiodd aldor..rices hirde.
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 163/42 Paedagogus, cilda hyrde uel lareow.
a1250 Prov. Ælfred in Old Eng. Misc. 102 Ealured englene hurde [v.r. herde] Englene durlyng.
1480 W. Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxiii Therle of Fyffe a fyers man and a sterne herd.
1570 in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. xxii. 61 Keip weill thy taill, gude Phillip, I am hird The to award from buffettis.
4. Curling. A guard-stone.
ΚΠ
1789 D. Davidson Thoughts Seasons 166 (Jam.) Gib o' the Glen, a noble herd Behind the winner laid.
1789 D. Davidson Thoughts Seasons 166 (Jam.) But miss'd his aim, and 'gainst the herd, Dang frae his clint a flaw.
Compounds
Also herd-boy n., herdman n., etc.† herd-flock n. Obsolete a company of shepherds. † herd-work n. (also herd-werch) Obsolete (see quot. 1706).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > [noun] > sheep herding > shepherd > collectively
herd-flockc1175
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 3372 All þatt hirde flocc hemm sahh & herrde whatt teȝȝ sungenn.
herd-girl n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [noun] > herding > herdsman or woman
herdc725
herdmanc1000
lookera1225
tripherd1305
hogger1327
pastorc1400
pastorelc1440
leader1495
pasture-man1547
herd-maid1588
herdsman1603
pastoral1607
feeder1611
creaght1634
herder1635
keep1641
creaghter1653
town herd1760
herd-boy1799
stock-keeper1806
senn1826
herd-girla1856
herd-laddie1865
pastoralist1879
a1856 H. Miller Cruise of Betsey (1858) ii. viii. 352 Where she had plucked berries, a little herd-girl, on the banks of the Auldgrande.
herd-laddie n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [noun] > herding > herdsman or woman
herdc725
herdmanc1000
lookera1225
tripherd1305
hogger1327
pastorc1400
pastorelc1440
leader1495
pasture-man1547
herd-maid1588
herdsman1603
pastoral1607
feeder1611
creaght1634
herder1635
keep1641
creaghter1653
town herd1760
herd-boy1799
stock-keeper1806
senn1826
herd-girla1856
herd-laddie1865
pastoralist1879
1865 H. H. Dixon Field & Fern: South vi. 174 He was with the Doctor at thirteen, and then became a herd laddie.
1889 Chambers's Encycl. IV. 87/1 For many years James Wyllie (the ‘herd-laddie’) was the acknowledged [Draughts] Champion of the world.
herd-lassie n.
herd-maid n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [noun] > herding > herdsman or woman
herdc725
herdmanc1000
lookera1225
tripherd1305
hogger1327
pastorc1400
pastorelc1440
leader1495
pasture-man1547
herd-maid1588
herdsman1603
pastoral1607
feeder1611
creaght1634
herder1635
keep1641
creaghter1653
town herd1760
herd-boy1799
stock-keeper1806
senn1826
herd-girla1856
herd-laddie1865
pastoralist1879
1588 W. Byrd Psalmes, Sonets, & Songs (rev. ed.) sig. D.v I sit and watch a heardmaid gay.
herd-maiden n. a girl, etc. who assists, or acts as, a herd.
herd's purse n. = shepherd's purse n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [noun] > herding
herd-work1166
herding1733
stock-riding1872
herdsmanship1889
1166 Regist. Eccl. Christi Cant. MS. (Cowell) Pro opere quod Anglice Herdwerch dicitur.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Herdwerch, or Heerdwerch (Sax.), Herdsmen's Work or Labours, formerly done by Shepherds, Herdsmen, and other inferiour Tenants at the Will of their Lord.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
herdv.1
/həːd/, U.S. /hərd/ 1.
a. intransitive. To go in a herd; to form a herd or herds. Said also contemptuously of men: to congregate or live together as beasts. Constr. together, with.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animals collectively > [verb (intransitive)] > form a herd
herd1393
mob1878
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (intransitive)] > specifically of people or animals
gathera975
ensemblea1300
drawc1300
semble1389
herd1393
assemblea1400
routa1400
sanka1400
trume?a1400
musterc1425
convene1429
resemblea1450
to draw together1455
forgather1513
accompany1534
troop1565
congregate1570
to get together1575
parliament?1589
accoil1590
join1706
to roll up1817
congressa1850
to round up1879
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. xiv. 148 Maules drowen hem to maules..And femeles to femeles herdeyed [v.rr. herdyede, herdeiede, herdyyng, herdede] and drow.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. ix. sig. F5 They are but sheepe, which alwaies heard together.
1660 R. Coke Justice Vindicated 12 Like swine feeding, eating and promiscuously herding together.
1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. J. Albert de Mandelslo 127 in Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors Females, which..suffer themselves to be led up and down, till some of the wild Elephants herd with them.
1701 N. Rowe Ambitious Step-mother ii. ii Stoop to the meanest Arts which catch the Vulgar? Herd with 'em, fawn upon 'em, and caress 'em?
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth III. 108 These animals are in general fond of herding and grazing in company.
1886 E. Lawless Hurrish v. 57 It was a palace in comparison with the foul hovel in which he and his brother had herded together.
b. Of things: To come together, assemble; to be assembled or associated. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (intransitive)]
musterc1560
amass1572
accumulate1613
piece1622
rally1647
rendezvous1662
herd1704
collect1794
congest1859
mass1861
1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub ix. 171 All its Properties and Adjuncts, will herd under this short Definition.
1886 R. C. Leslie Sea-painter's Log 71 Away towards the north and west..they [clouds] appear to be herding together.
2. To join oneself to any band or company; to become one of any faction or party; to associate as one of the ‘common herd’ or crowd, to go in company with.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > associate together or with [verb (intransitive)]
mingc1275
company1387
joinc1390
meddlec1390
herd?a1400
fellowshipc1430
enfellowship1470
to step in1474
accompany?1490
yoke?a1513
to keep with ——c1515
conjoin1532
wag1550
frequent1577
encroach1579
consort1588
sort1595
commerce1596
troop1597
converse1598
to keep (also enter, come into, etc.) commons1598
to enter common1604
atone1611
to walk (also travel) in the way with1611
minglea1616
consociate1638
associate1644
corrive1647
co-unite1650
walk1650
cohere1651
engage1657
mix1667
accustom1670
to make one1711
coalite1735
commerciate1740
to have nothing to say to (also with)1780
gang?1791
companion1792
mess1795
matea1832
comrade1865
to go around1904
to throw in with1906
to get down1975
?a1400 Morte Arth. 1010 Ffor-thy hurdez he here, to owttraye hys pople.
1651 W. Davenant Gondibert ii. i. xvi Here greedy Creditors their Debtors chace, Who scape by herding in th' indebted Throng.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 573 The Wretch..spurring forward herds among his Friends.
1717 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad III. xi. 463 Hector..Remounts his Car, and herds amidst the Crowd.
1789 F. Burney Diary 13 Jan. (1842) IV. 380 'Tis now a cause of humanity..and I will not herd with those who think otherwise.
1854 W. M. Thackeray Newcomes I. x. 100 Ethel herded not with the children of her own age.
3. transitive. To place in or among a herd; to associate. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > associate with [verb (transitive)]
seeOE
drawc1275
mella1300
meeta1325
fellow1340
usec1384
conjoinc1386
joinc1390
knitc1400
accompany1461
enfellowship1470
frequent1477
haunt1477
mixa1513
encompanya1533
combinea1535
contract1548
to take with ——1562
associate1581
to have a saying toa1593
cope1594
sort1594
to take in1597
consort1600
herd1606
factionate1611
to keep company (with)a1616
accost1633
solder1641
converse1649
walk1650
consociate1653
coalite1734
to get with ——a1772
forgather1786
unionize1810
to go rounda1867
to mix in1870
cop1940
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)] > group > place in or among a group
herd1606
1606 No-body & Some-body sig. D4v The stag is hearded, come my Lord Shall we to horse and single him againe.
1611 B. Jonson Catiline i. sig. C2 The rest, How euer great we are, honest, and valiant, Are hearded with the vulgar.
?1612 J. Donne Lett. (1651) 43 I can allow my self to be..appliable to my company, but not..to herd my self in every troup.
1691 J. Swift Ode to Athenian Society iii, in Suppl. Fifth Vol. Athenian Gaz. 3 Our good Brethren..Must e'en all herd with us their Kindred Fools.
4. To collect into a herd. Also figurative. To amass.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)]
somnec825
heapc900
gathera975
samc1000
to set togetherc1275
fang1340
assemblec1374
recueilc1380
drawa1393
to draw togethera1398
semblea1400
congatherc1400
congregatec1400
to take together1490
recollect1513
to gather togetherc1515
to get together1523
congesta1552
confer1552
collect1573
ingatherc1575
ramass1586
upgather1590
to muster upa1593
accrue1594
musterc1595
compone1613
herd1615
contract1620
recoil1632
comporta1641
rally1643
rendezvous1670
purse1809
adduct1824
to round up1873
reeve1876
to pull together1925
1615 T. Tomkis Albumazar iii. v. sig. F4v In all the yeares of my yeomanry I could neuer yoke two crownes, and now I haue hearded ten faire twenty shilling peeces.
1850 B. Taylor Eldorado I. xi. 79 Our mules had scattered far and wide..and several hours elapsed before they could be herded and got into traveling order.
Derivatives
ˈherded adj. gathered or placed in a herd.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animals collectively > [adjective] > placed in a herd
herded1667
1667 J. Dryden Annus Mirabilis 1666 cclviii. 65 The most, in fields, like herded beasts lie down.
1847 M. Howitt Ballads 235 Among the herded deer.
ˈherding n. association in herds, congregation; also in combinations, as herding-place.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animals collectively > [noun] > assembling
herding1709
aggregation1805
packing1879
1709 Ld. Shaftesbury Sensus Communis: Ess. Freedom of Wit 68 If Eating and Drinking be natural, Herding is so too.
1805 P. Wakefield Domest. Recreat. (1806) xiii. 195 Man, who is a herding, and not a solitary animal.
1860 Mercantile Marine Mag. 7 211 The herding places of vast numbers of amphibious animals.
ˈherding adj. gathering in herds, gregarious.
ΚΠ
1743 H. Fielding Ess. Conversat. in Misc. I. 118 The tamer and gentler, the herding and flocking Parts of the Creation.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
herdv.2
1. figurative.1887 A. C. Swinburne Locrine iv. ii. 293 God, who herds the stars of heaven As sheep within his sheepfold.
a. transitive. To take care of or tend (sheep or cattle).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (transitive)] > herd
herdc1475
travel1576
pastor1587
drove1776
flog1793
tail1844
work1878
work1879
trail1906
c1475 (?c1400) Apol. Lollard Doctr. (1842) 106 Þe patriarkis..herdid bestis.
1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherdess 14 (Jam.) When they were able now to herd the ewes.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. iv. 71 The very least boy that can herd a cow.
1892 E. Reeves Homeward Bound 283 Cattle, sheep, goats..are all herded by boys or women.
b. transitive. To lead or conduct as a shepherd. Also transferred, spec. (U.S. slang) to drive (a car, aircraft, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > impel or drive [verb (transitive)] > impel or drive animates
sendc950
driveOE
chacche138.
chasec1400
teisec1400
to take up1542
gar1587
urge1594
herd1883
shoo1903
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > driving or operating a vehicle > drive a vehicle [verb (transitive)]
driveOE
call1487
convoy1667
bend1747
herd1954
1883 Eng. Illustr. Mag. Nov. 72/1 It is also very picturesque to see..the girls..herding the geese and ducks homeward at sundown.
1895 R. Kipling Second Jungle Bk. 67 Who is Man that we should care for him..? I have followed him all day—at noon—in the white sunlight. I herded him as the wolves herd buck.
1927 W. Faulkner Mosquitoes 261 ‘Come on here, you men.’ He named over his depleted watch and herded it forward. He herded it down to his cabin and nourished it with stimulants.
1954 W. Faulkner Fable (1955) 100 He saw the two-seater..the two S.E.'s above and behind it, herding it down.
1955 Sunday Times 25 Sept. 3/3 (heading) Herd that beast!.. I append an up-to-the-minute glossary of motoring terms..herd, to drive a car.
1971 M. Tak Truck Talk 82 Herd, to drive a truck.
c. intransitive. To act as a herd, to tend cattle or sheep.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [verb (intransitive)] > herd
herd1768
drove1805
looker1887
trail1906
1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherdess 31 (Jam.) I had na use to gang Unto the glen to herd this mony a lang.
1848 Fraser's Mag. 38 315 It was long before I was hearted to herd again in the woods by myself.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > refuge or shelter > seek (refuge) [verb (transitive)] > shelter
wrench?c1225
covera1275
herda1300
lown1487
scug1513
subumber1543
becalm1559
embower1580
ensconce1594
sconce1598
screen1611
burrow1657
lew1664
embosom1685
a1300 E.E. Psalter xlix. [l.] 19 Þi tunge herded swike~domes ma.
a1300 E.E. Psalter lvii. 3 [lviii. 2] Un-rightwisnes herdes youre hand.
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) III. 469 And [=if] he hurdit sic schrewis Within Ingland quhilk wes his mortall fa.
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) xv. 21 My lady, lord, thow gaif me for to hird, Within myne armes I nureiss on the nycht.
Derivatives
ˈherding n. the tending of sheep and cattle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > herding, pasturing, or confining > [noun] > herding
herd-work1166
herding1733
stock-riding1872
herdsmanship1889
1733 P. Lindsay Interest Scotl. 37 In the Summer we must be at the Expence of Herding, to save our Grass from being destroyed by our Neighbours Beasts.
1802 C. Findlater Gen. View Agric. County of Peebles 195 The principles of herding are, to allocate, to each particular flock, separate walks upon the farm for each season of the year.
1871 Daily News 27 Feb. Single whales often broke away..and required a good deal of herding to prevent their escape into the sound.
1883 J. Gilmour Among Mongols xviii. 215 The Mongols have much solitary travelling and herding.
Draft additions July 2002
transitive. colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.). to herd cats: used in similative expressions to suggest the unwieldiness or unfeasibility of an undertaking, esp. a managerial or organizational task, as like herding cats ( as hard as herding cats, etc.): extremely difficult to accomplish; unmanageable, futile.
ΚΠ
1986 National Jrnl. 3 May 1062 Yerxa will have to continue to juggle the divergent views of the subcommittee members, a task he said ‘can be like trying to herd cats’.
1988 MIS Q. 12 65 At a recent academic meeting, an academic administrator stated that managing an academic department was akin to herding cats.
1991 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 16 Sept. b1/2 Leading a group of lawyers through a difficult project can be ‘as hard as herding cats’.
1999 Atlanta (Georgia) Constit. 16 Feb. b5/1 Murphy this term is letting others preside, allowing them to get their feet wet at controlling the 180-person circus that is the General Assembly's House chamber. It's a feat not unlike herding cats.
2000 J. Alexander Command Performance xi. 243 Influencing Hollywood is a little like herding cats.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1a1000
n.2c725v.11393v.2a1300- politicist
- politicization
- politicizations
- politicize
- politicized
- politicizes
- politicizing
- politicked
- politicker
- politickers
- politicking
- politickings
- politicless
- politicly
- politico
- politico religionist
- politico-
- politico-abolition
- politico-aesthetic
- politico-arithmetical
- politico-artistic
- politico-bureaucratic
- politico-commercial
- politico-crime
- politico-criminal