schepherde
Middle English
Alternative forms
- scheepherd, schepherd, schepparde, schepperde, sheepeert, shepehurde, sheperde, shepherd, shepherde, shephirde, shepperde
- scheperd, scheperde, sheppard, shepperd, schiperd, shippard, schypard (late)
- ssepherde, ssephurde (Kent, Southern)
Etymology
From Old English sċēaphierde, from Proto-West Germanic *skāpahirdī; equivalent to schep (“sheep”) + herde (“herder”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʃeːpˌ(h)eːrd(ə)/, /ˈʃɛpˌ(h)eːrd(ə)/, /-(h)iːrd(ə)/
- (with reduction) IPA(key): /ˈʃɛpˌ(h)ɛrd(ə)/, /ˈʃɛpərd(ə)/
Noun
schepherde (plural schepherdes or (rare) schepherden)
- shepherd (person who herds sheep)
- c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.), published c. 1410, Joon 10:11, page 49v, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:
- I am a good ſchepparde / a good ſchepparde ȝyueþ his lijf foꝛ his ſcheep
- I am a good shepherd; a good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep.
-
- (figuratively) A spiritual leader or guide.
Descendants
- English: shepherd
- Scots: shepherd
References
- “shẹ̄̆p-hẹ̄̆rd(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.