“shepherds” is a form of
shepherd
UK /ˈʃɛpəd/ · US /ˈʃɛpəɹd/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms shepherds shepherding shepherded Shepard Shephard Sheppard Shepperd
- noun (countable) A person who tends sheep, especially a grazing flock.
- noun A male sheep tender
- noun (countable, figurative) Someone who watches over, looks after, or guides somebody.
- noun A male watcher/guardian/guider/leader
- noun (Christianity, countable, figurative) The pastor of a church; one who guides others in religion.
- noun A male pastor
- noun (countable, poetic) A swain; a rustic male lover.
- noun (countable) A German Shepherd.
- verb (transitive) To watch over; to guide.
- verb (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.
- proper noun An English surname originating as an occupation.
- proper noun A male given name.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Boone County, Indiana.
- proper noun A village in Isabella County, Michigan.
- proper noun A census-designated place in Yellowstone County, Montana.
- proper noun A city in San Jacinto County, Texas.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English schepherde, from Old English sċēaphierde, a compound of sċēap (“sheep”) and hierde (“herdsman”), equivalent to modern sheep + herd (“herder”).
From shepherd.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A man employed in tending, feeding, and guarding sheep, esp. a flock grazing at large.
- noun The pastor of a church; one with the religious guidance of others.
- verb To tend as a shepherd; to guard, herd, lead, or drive, as a shepherd. [Poetic]
Etymology [OE. schepherde, schephirde, AS. sceáphyrde; sceáp sheep + hyrde, hirde, heorde, a herd, a guardian. See Sheep, and Herd.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “shepherd”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details