herd·wick \ˈhərˌdwik\noun Etymology: from obsolete herdwick pasture ground, from Middle English, from hierde, herde herdsman + wick; from the breed's having been developed on the herdwicks of the Abbey of Furness in Lancashire, England 1.usually capitalized: a British breed of very hardy coarse-wooled mountain sheep 2.-soften capitalized: an animal of the Herdwick breed