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horde

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "horde", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "horde" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "horde" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

horde is aEnglishnoun. It means: A wandering troop or gang; especially, a clan or tribe of a nomadic people (originally Tatars) migrating from place to place for the sake of pasturage, plunder, etc.; a predatory multitude. Pronounced /hɔːd/. Often confused with horn and hose.

Key facts for horde
PropertyValue
Headwordhorde
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɔːd/
Letters5
Frequency rank#21,541
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of horde in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for horde is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /hɔːd/. Corpus data places it at rank #21,541 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 6 documented wrong-spelling variants for horde, with forms such as "hhorde", "hodre", and "hordde". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "horn", "hose", "Hyde", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Recorded in English since 1555. From Middle French horde, from German Horde, from Polish horda, from Russian орда́ (ordá, “horde", 'clan, troop'”), probably from Kipchak Turkic (compare Tatar урда (urda, “horde”)), ultimately from Proto-Turkic *ordu (“place… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is horde, spelled H-O-R-D-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A wandering troop or gang; especially, a clan or tribe of a nomadic people (originally Tatars) migrating from place to place for the sake of pasturage, plunder, etc.; a predatory multitude.
  2. 2
    A large number of people or things.

Etymology

Recorded in English since 1555. From Middle French horde, from German Horde, from Polish horda, from Russian орда́ (ordá, “horde", 'clan, troop'”), probably from Kipchak Turkic (compare Tatar урда (urda, “horde”)), ultimately from Proto-Turkic *ordu (“place of staying of the army, ruler etc.”). Cognates include Turkish ordu (“camp, army”), Mongolian орд (ord, “court, castle, royal compound, camp, horde”) and Kalmyk орда (orda). Doublet of orda and Urdu.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hhorde,hodre,hordde,hored,horrde,ohrde

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for horde

Misspelling Variants of "horde"

hhorde6hodre5hordde6hored5horrde6ohrde5
Misspelling Variants of "horde"

Frequency rank: #21,541 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "horde"?
"horde" is spelled H-O-R-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /hɔːd/.
What does "horde" mean?
As a noun, "horde" means: A wandering troop or gang; especially, a clan or tribe of a nomadic people (originally Tatars) migrating from place to place for the sake of pasturage, plunder, etc.; a predatory multitude.
What words are commonly confused with "horde"?
"horde" is commonly confused with "horn", "hose", "Hyde". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "horde"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "horde" is /hɔːd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "horde"?
Recorded in English since 1555. From Middle French horde, from German Horde, from Polish horda, from Russian орда́ (ordá, “horde", 'clan, troop'”), probably from Kipchak Turkic (compare Tatar урда (urda, “horde”)), ultimately from Proto-Turkic *or... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter H in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.