Cowherder

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person whose job is to look after and drive herds of cows on a farm or open range
2. Someone who watches over and moves cattle, often working outdoors on pasture or rangeland
3. The worker responsible for tending, guiding and protecting a herd of cows across grazing land

Etymology: Cowherder is a plain compound: "cow" joined to "herder," someone who tends or drives herds. Its meaning is simply a person whose job is to look after cows, and nothing in the word's makeup has shifted from that sense. The two parts are both old English-speaking material. "Cow" comes from Old English "cū," the everyday word for the animal, and "herder" is built from "herd" with the agent suffix "-er," which marks a person who does the action. Pairing a livestock noun with "herder" follows the same pattern as "sheepherder" or "goatherder," and the compound simply names the specialist who works with that particular animal.

Synonyms: cowhand, herdsman, drover, cowboy