herdman

noun

"herdman" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“herdman” is uncommon English (frequency #92,684 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#92,684
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Someone who herds animals; a herdsman.

Corpus desk

Index EN-herdman · herdman · English

herdman · rank #92,684 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #92,684
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hemostasis

Nearest frequency peer: hemostasis (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “herdman”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “herdman” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for herdman
PropertyValue
Headwordherdman
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#92,684
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “herdman” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).herdmanfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “hemostasis” (#92,683), “hematological” (#92,682), “helder” (#92,681). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “herdman” is #92,684. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

herdman is uncommon English at frequency #92,684 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Someone who herds animals; a herdsman.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for herdman, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English herdeman, from Old English hyrdeman; equivalent to herd + man. The correct English form is herdman, spelled H-E-R-D-M-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Someone who herds animals; a herdsman.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how herdman appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. And the heerd toke their courſe / and ran heedlynge into the lake / and wer choked. when the herdmẽ ſawe what had chaunſed / they fleed / and tolde it in the cite and in the villages.

Etymology

From Middle English herdeman, from Old English hyrdeman; equivalent to herd + man.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "herdman"?
"herdman" is spelled H-E-R-D-M-A-N.
What does "herdman" mean?
As a noun, "herdman" means: Someone who herds animals; a herdsman.
What is the origin of the word "herdman"?
From Middle English herdeman, from Old English hyrdeman; equivalent to herd + man. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "herdman", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list