Main Entry: ¹herd

Pronunciation: \ˈhərd\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English heord; akin to Old High German herta herd, Middle Welsh cordd troop, Lithuanian kerdžius shepherd

Date: before 12th century

1 a : a number of animals of one kind kept together under human control b : a congregation of gregarious wild animals
2 a (1) : a group of people usually having a common bond <a herd of tourists> (2) : a large assemblage of like things b : the undistinguished masses : crowd <isolate the individual prophets from the herd — Norman Cousins>

— herd·like \-ˌlīk\ adjective