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 animals2 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