Adjacent Words

herdsman definitions

	Tweet

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: someone who drives a herd [syn: herder, herdsman, drover]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1567 1. a manager, breeder, or tender of livestock 2. capitalized bootes

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -men) the owner or keeper of herds (of domesticated animals).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Herdman Herd"man, Herdsman Herds"man, n.; pl. -men. The owner or keeper of a herd or of herds; one employed in tending a herd of cattle.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(herdsmen) A herdsman is a man who looks after a herd of animals such as cattle or goats. N-COUNT

Easton's Bible Dictionary

In Egypt herdsmen were probably of the lowest caste. Some of Joseph's brethren were made rulers over Pharaoh's cattle (Gen. 47:6, 17). The Israelites were known in Egypt as "keepers of cattle;" and when they left it they took their flocks and herds with them (Ex. 12:38). Both David and Saul came from "following the herd" to occupy the throne (1 Sam. 9; 11:5; Ps. 78:70). David's herd-masters were among his chief officers of state. The daughters also of wealthy chiefs were wont to tend the flocks of the family (Gen. 29:9; Ex. 2:16). The "chief of the herdsmen" was in the time of the monarchy an officer of high rank (1 Sam. 21:7; comp. 1 Chr. 27:29). The herdsmen lived in tents (Isa. 38:12; Jer. 6:3); and there were folds for the cattle (Num. 32:16), and watch-towers for the herdsmen, that he might therefrom observe any coming danger (Micah 4:8; Nah. 3:8).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hurdz'-man (boqer; the King James Version, the English Revised Version "herdman"): A cowherd (Am 7:14). The same word is used in Syria today. ro`eh, has its equivalent in the language of Syria and Palestine (Arabic ra'i), and is a general term for any kind of a herdsman (Ge 13:7,8; 26:20; 1Sa 21:7). noqedh, occurs in one passage (Am 1:1); literally it means one who spots or marks the sheep, hence, a herdsman. Spotting the wool with different dyes is still the method of distinguishing between the sheep of different flocks. The herdsman is seldom the owner of the sheep, but a hireling.

See SHEEP; SHEEP TENDING.

James A. Patch

Moby Thesaurus

Gyropilot, automatic pilot, boatheader, boatsteerer, cattleman, cicerone, courier, cowboy, cowgirl, cowhand, cowherd, cowman, cowpuncher, coxswain, dragoman, drover, gaucho, goatherd, gooseboy, gooseherd, guide, guidepost, guider, helmsman, herd, herder, hogherd, horse wrangler, horseherd, mercury, navigator, pigman, pilot, pointer, puncher, river pilot, sheepherder, sheepman, shepherd, shepherdess, steerer, steersman, swanherd, swineherd, tour director, tour guide, vaquero, waddy, wrangler