Etymology

horde

H4O1R1D2E1

Today 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. Full definition →

Middle French horde ← German Horde ← Polish horda
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The story

  1. Proto-Turkic · derived from*ordu“place of staying of the army, ruler etc.”
  2. Russian · derived fromорда́“horde, clan, troop”
  3. Polish · derived fromhorda
  4. German · derived fromHorde
  5. Middle French · derived fromhorde
  6. English todayhorde

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.

Words from the same roots

Russianорда́ all →

orda

Proto-Turkic*ordu all →

Urduorda

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.