The story
- Proto-Germanic · derived from*hirdijaz
- Proto-West Germanic · derived from*hirdī
- Old English · derived fromhyrde
- Middle English · derived fromherde“herder, herdsman”
- Middle English · inherited fromherder
- English todayherder
From Middle English herder, herdere, hurder (attested as a surname), an alteration of Middle English herde (“herder, herdsman”), from Old English hyrde, hierde (“herder”), from Proto-West Germanic *hirdī, from Proto-Germanic *hirdijaz, equivalent to herd + -er. Doublet of herd ("herder"), as in cowherd, goatherd, shepherd, etc.
Words from the same roots
Middle Englishherder all →
Horder
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.