Etymology

hird

H4I1R1D2

Today it means: In Norwegian history, an informal retinue of personal armed companions, hirdmen or housecarls. Full definition →

Norwegian hird ← Old Norse hirð ← Old English hīred
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*hīwarād“relationship; family”
  2. Old English · derived fromhīred
  3. Old Norse · derived fromhirð
  4. Norwegian · borrowed fromhird
  5. English todayhird

Borrowed from Norwegian hird, from Old Norse hirð, a borrowing from Old English hīred, hēored (“family, household”), from Proto-West Germanic *hīwarād (“relationship; family”), equivalent to hewe + rede. Cognate with German Heirat (“wedding”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.