shepherd spider

noun

"shepherd-spider" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shepherd spider” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - harvestman, daddy longlegs (spider-like arachnid of the order Opiliones)

Corpus desk

Index EN-shepherd-spider · shepherd spider · English

shepherd spider · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 15 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "S" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for shepherd spider
PropertyValue
Headwordshepherd spider
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “shepherd spider” in English

shepherd spidersits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

shepherd spider is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "harvestman, daddy longlegs (spider-like arachnid of the order Opiliones)".

shepherd spider doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Compare the semantics of harvestman, harvest spider and Dutch koewachter (literally “cowherd”). The correct English form is shepherd spider, spelled S-H-E-P-H-E-R-D- -S-P-I-D-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    harvestman, daddy longlegs (spider-like arachnid of the order Opiliones)

Etymology

Compare the semantics of harvestman, harvest spider and Dutch koewachter (literally “cowherd”).

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "shepherd spider"?
"shepherd spider" is spelled S-H-E-P-H-E-R-D- -S-P-I-D-E-R.
What does "shepherd spider" mean?
As a noun, "shepherd spider" means: harvestman, daddy longlegs (spider-like arachnid of the order Opiliones)
What is the origin of the word "shepherd spider"?
Compare the semantics of harvestman, harvest spider and Dutch koewachter (literally “cowherd”). 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list