# shepherd
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English schepherde, from Old English sċēaphierde, a compound of sċēap (“sheep”) and hierde (“herdsman”), equivalent to modern sheep +‎ herd (“herder”).

### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /ˈʃɛpɚd/
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈʃɛpəd/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: shep‧herd

### Noun

shepherd (plural shepherds)
* A person who tends sheep, especially a grazing flock.
    Synonym: pastor (now rare)
    Hyponym: shepherdess (f.)
** 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01:It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
** A male sheep tender
    Coordinate term: shepherdess (f.)
* (figurative) Someone who watches over, looks after, or guides somebody.
    Hyponym: shepherdess (f.)
** 1769, Oxford Standard text, Bible (King James), Psalms 23:1
    The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
** A male watcher/guardian/guider/leader
    Coordinate term: shepherdess (f.)
* (figurative) The pastor of a church; one who guides others in religion.
    Hyponym: shepherdess (f.)
** A male pastor
    Coordinate term: shepherdess (f.)
* (poetic) A swain; a rustic male lover.
* A German Shepherd.
** 2022 May 19, James Verini, “Surviving the Siege of Kharkiv”, in The New York Times Magazine‎:The dirt floor, low ceiling and unfinished stone walls were barely illuminated by candles and a dim string of green decorative lights. A nervous shepherd mix barked at me as a woman tried to calm it. When my eyes adjusted, I saw people in corners.

#### Coordinate terms

* goatherd
* herder
* herdsman
* herdswoman
* shepherdess

#### Derived terms

* archshepherd
* Australian Shepherd
* Carpathian Shepherd
* Caucasian shepherd
* Caucasian shepherd dog
* chief shepherd
* German shepherd
* idol shepherd
* pack-shepherd
* Shepherd
* shepherd dog
* shepherdess
* shepherdish
* shepherdism
* shepherd king
* shepherd kings
* shepherdless
* shepherdlike
* shepherdly
* shepherd moon
* shepherd satellite
* Shepherd's Bush
* shepherd's crook
* shepherdship
* shepherd's knot
* shepherd's needle
* shepherd spider
* shepherd's pie
* shepherd's pipe
* shepherd's pouch
* shepherd's purse
* shepherd tree
* Shepperton
* undershepherd

#### Related terms

* bearherd
* cowherd
* goatherd
* gooseherd
* herd
* herder
* herding dog
* herd instinct
* herd's grass
* herdsman
* Herdsman (the constellation Boötes)
* herdswoman
* hogherd
* horseherd
* neatherd
* oxherd
* swanherd
* swineherd

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Verb

shepherd (third-person singular simple present shepherds, present participle shepherding, simple past and past participle shepherded)
* (transitive) To watch over; to guide.
** 1893, Norman Gale, “In Pain”, in Orchard Songs, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews & John Lane; New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, pages 34–35:For me has Pain, the sentinel, / Been vigilant / To pace my plot and dwell / Within my tent; / Oft in the night with small alarms / Has stirred me out of rest, / Alert, oppressed, / Till shepherded within thine arms / And on thy breast, / O loving Lady, in the curse of Pain / I have been blest— / […]
** 2012, The Onion Book of Known Knowledge, page viii:Each entry in this volume was assigned to a different preeminent scholar who was responsible for shepherding that specific entry, and that specific entry alone, into being.
* (transitive, Australian rules football) To obstruct an opponent from getting to the ball, either when a teammate has it or is going for it, or if the ball is about to bounce through the goal or out of bounds.