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PlainSpell

herd

/hɝd/noun, verb

herd is spelled H-E-R-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.9 times per million words in written English, the 10,028th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “heard vs herd” about 880 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, herd means “A number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of herd is herds.

How many letters and syllables are in herd?

Letters4: H-E-R-D
Syllables1
In writing5.9 times per million words; the 10,028th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is herd?

Herd appears 5.9 times per million words in written English, the 10,028th 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 herd?

  • UK /hɜːd/
  • US /hɝd/

Herd has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-herd.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with herd

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

heard vs herd880 G

Sounds like: heard (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: heard.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with herd?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as herd from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹd/):

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 herd

  • herds plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • herding participle, present
  • herded participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does herd mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

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

    a herd of cattle

  2. 2

    Any collection of animals gathered or travelling in a company.

  3. 3

    derogatoryA crowd, a mass of people or things; a rabble.

    I was never one to follow the herd.

  4. 4

    A collection of things, especially vehicles.

    Herds of buses spread across the streets.

  5. 5

    archaicSomeone who keeps a group of domestic animals.

    Near-synonym: herdsman

verb

  1. 1

    To unite or associate in a herd; to feed or run together, or in company.

    Sheep herd on many hills.

  2. 2

    To unite or associate in a herd

  3. 3

    To manage, care for or guard a herd

    He is employed to herd the goats.

  4. 4

    To associate; to ally oneself with, or place oneself among, a group or company.

  5. 5

    To move, or be moved, in a group. (of both animals and people)

    On alighting at the station, we were all herded over the footbridge and through a side exit.

  6. 6

    ScotlandTo act as a herdsman or a shepherd.

  7. 7

    To form or put into a herd.

  8. 8

    To move or drive a herd.

    I heard the herd of cattle being herded home from a long way away.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Herd in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtroupeau (a number of domestic animals assembled together…), rassembler (intr: to unite or associate in a herd)
GermanHerde (a number of domestic animals assembled together…), hüten (intr: to unite or associate in a herd), Pferdeherde (horses assembled together under the watch or…), Hirt, Hirte (herdsman)
Portugueserebanho (a number of domestic animals assembled together…), vara (pigs assembled together under the watch or…), manada (any collection of animals gathered or…), súcia, cambada, canalha (a crowd, a mass of people; now usually…)
Spanishrebaño (a number of domestic animals assembled together…), conducir (intr: to unite or associate in a herd), pastor, rebañador (herdsman), hato, manada (any collection of animals gathered or…)

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 herd come from?

From Middle English herde, heerde, heorde, from Old English hierd, heord (“herd, flock; keeping, care, custody”), from Proto-West Germanic *herdu, from Proto-Germanic *herdō (“herd”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerdʰ- (“file, row, herd”). Cognate with German Herde, Danish hjord, Swedish hjord. Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian herdhe (“nest”) and Serbo-Croatian krdo.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after herd