Etymograph

English

shepherd

Shepherd comes from Middle English schepherde, and goes back to Old English sċēaphierde.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċēaphierde1
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schepherde1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1769shepherd1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English shepherd
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1769, Oxford Standard text, Bible (King James): “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċēaphierdeWiktionary, English shepherd
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schepherdeWiktionary, English shepherd
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1769shepherdWiktionary, English shepherd. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1769, Oxford Standard text, Bible (King James): “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

A compound of sċēap ‘sheep’ + hierde ‘herdsman’

Proto-Germanic *skēpą ‘sheep’

Proto-West Germanic *skāp ‘sheep’

Old English sċēap ‘sheep’

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

Proto-Germanic *herdō ‘herd’

Proto-Germanic *hirdijaz ‘herder, herdsman’

Old English hierde ‘herdsman’

Every English word from Old English sċēaphierde

Today it means

noun A person who tends sheep, especially a grazing flock.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shepherd”. 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 / Old English sċēaphierde / shepherd

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