cowherd
noun
cowherd is spelled C-O-W-H-E-R-D: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,884th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cowherd means “One who herds cattle; a cowboy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cowherd is cowherds.
How many letters and syllables are in cowherd?
| Letters | 7: C-O-W-H-E-R-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 69,884th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cowherd?
Cowherd appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,884th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cowherd?
Cowherd has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cowherd.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cowherd?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as cowherd.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: chowder.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of cowherd
- cowherds plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cowherd mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
One who herds cattle; a cowboy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cowherd in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a person who herds cattle:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | vacher, vachère, bouvier, bouvière |
| German | Kuhhirte, Kuhhirt, Kuhhirtin, Viehhirte, Viehhirt, Viehhirtin |
| Portuguese | vaqueiro |
| Spanish | vaquero |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cowherd come from?
From Middle English couherde, from Old English cūhierde, equivalent to cow + herd (“herder”). Doublet of Coward (the surname). Cognate with German Kuhhirte (“cowherd”). Compare shepherd, goatherd, swineherd, etc.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).