Etymograph

English

herd

Herd comes from Old English hierd ‘herd, flock’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerdʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kerdʰ-1‘file, row, herd’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*herdō1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*herdu1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hierd1‘herd, flock’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500herde1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1681herd1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English herd
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1681, John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem: “But far more numerous vvas the herd of ſuch,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kerdʰ-Wiktionary, English herd‘file, row, herd’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*herdōWiktionary, English herdreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*herduWiktionary, English herdreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150hierdWiktionary, English herd‘herd, flock’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500herdeWiktionary, English herd
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1681herdWiktionary, English herd. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1681, John Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem: “But far more numerous vvas the herd of ſuch,…”

The story

Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian herdhe (‘nest’) and Serbo-Croatian krdo.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerdʰ- ‘file, row, herd’

shirt, shortly, shortness, 1 more

through Middle English herde

hards, 1 more

Another origin of herd

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kerdʰ-‘file, row, herd’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*herdōreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hirdijaz‘herder, herdsman’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*hirdī‘herdsman, herder’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150hirde
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500herde
  7. Englishtodayherd

Today it means

noun A number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “herd”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerdʰ- / herd

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