Unherded

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not having been gathered together or driven into a group, as scattered animals that have never been rounded up
2. Describing animals or people that remain scattered and have not been collected or directed into one body
3. Left unmanaged and dispersed, without having been corralled or guided into a single gathered group

Etymology: "Unherded" is formed from the prefix "un-", meaning "not", attached to "herded," the past participle of "herd." Its meaning is simply the negation of the original idea: not gathered or driven together as a group. The base word "herded" traces back to the Old English "heord," a word for a group of animals kept or driven together, which is also the source of the noun "herd" in modern English. The verb to herd developed from that noun, so "herded" describes the action of driving animals, or by extension people, into a group, and "unherded" describes the state of having avoided that gathering.