# herd

> English word · Noun · IPA /hɜːd/ · frequency rank #10,061

## Definitions
1. A number of domestic animals assembled together under the watch or ownership of a keeper.
2. Any collection of animals gathered or travelling in a company.
3. A crowd, a mass of people or things; a rabble.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **HR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hr)
- **hey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hey)
- **hes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hes)
- **hid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hid)
- **HUD** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hud)
- **het** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-het)
- **HRC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hrc)
- **Hur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hur)
- **HRT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hrt)
- **hrm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hrm)
- **hor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hor)
- **hew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hew)
- **hod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hod)
- **HRW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hrw)
- **here** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-here)
- **hold** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hold)
- **hurt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hurt)
- **hero** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hero)
- **hire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hire)
- **hood** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/herd-vs-hood)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ehrd`, `hedr`, `herdd`, `herrd`, `hherd`, `hred`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/herd