Standard Lemma guide

horde

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: hôd
  • Received-Pronunciation: /hɔːd/
  • General-American: hôrd
  • General-American: /hɔɹd/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: hôd
  • Australian: /hoːd/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • hōrd rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
  • /ho(ː)ɹd/ rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
  • /hoəd/ non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger
  • rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)d
  • homophone: hoard
  • homophone: whored
  • CMU ARPABET: HH AO1 R D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A wandering troop or gang; especially, a clan or tribe of a nomadic people (originally Tatars) migrating from place to place for the sake of pasturage, plunder, etc.; a predatory multitude.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A large number of people or things.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • We were beset by a horde of street vendors who thought we were tourists and would buy their cheap souvenirs.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To travel en masse; to flock.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a vast multitude

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: host, legion

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: multitude, throng, concourse

5

noun

Meaning 5

a moving crowd

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: drove, swarm

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: crowd

6

noun

Meaning 6

a nomadic community

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: community

Narrower terms: Golden Horde

History

Etymology

Recorded in English since 1555. From Middle French horde, from German Horde, from Polish horda, from Russian орда́ (ordá, “horde, clan, troop”), probably from Kipchak Turkic (compare Tatar урда (urda, “horde”)), ultimately from Proto-Turkic *ordu (“place of staying of the army, ruler etc.”). Cognates include Turkish ordu (“camp, army”), Mongolian орд (ord, “court, castle, royal compound, camp, horde”) and Kalmyk орда (orda). Doublet of orda and Urdu.

Across languages

Translations

81 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: حَشْد (ḥašd) — wandering troop or gang
  • Azerbaijani: ordu — wandering troop or gang
  • Azerbaijani: qoşun — wandering troop or gang
  • Belarusian: арда́ (ardá) — wandering troop or gang
  • Bulgarian: о́рда (órda) — wandering troop or gang
  • Catalan: horda — wandering troop or gang
  • Chinese Mandarin: 汗國 /汗国 (hánguó) — wandering troop or gang
  • Chinese Mandarin: 斡耳朵 (wò'ěrduǒ) — wandering troop or gang
  • Czech: horda — wandering troop or gang
  • Danish: horde — wandering troop or gang
  • Dutch: horde — wandering troop or gang
  • Esperanto: hordo — wandering troop or gang
  • Finnish: orda — wandering troop or gang
  • French: horde — wandering troop or gang
  • German: Horde — wandering troop or gang
  • Greek: ορδή (ordí) — wandering troop or gang
  • Indonesian: gerombolan — wandering troop or gang
  • Irish: slua — wandering troop or gang
  • Italian: orda — wandering troop or gang
  • Japanese: オルド (orudo) — wandering troop or gang
  • Kalmyk: орда (orda) — wandering troop or gang
  • Kazakh: орда (orda) — wandering troop or gang
  • Korean: 오르도 (oreudo) — wandering troop or gang
  • Kyrgyz: ордо (ordo) — wandering troop or gang
  • Macedonian: орда (orda) — wandering troop or gang
  • Mongolian: орд (ord) — wandering troop or gang
  • Mongolian: ᠣᠷᠳ᠋ᠤ (ordu) — wandering troop or gang
  • Nogai: орда (orda) — wandering troop or gang
  • Norwegian Bokmål: horde — wandering troop or gang
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: horde — wandering troop or gang
  • Persian: اردو — wandering troop or gang
  • Polish: horda — wandering troop or gang
  • Portuguese: horda — wandering troop or gang
  • Romanian: hoardă — wandering troop or gang
  • Russian: орда́ (ordá) — wandering troop or gang
  • Serbo-Croatian: хо̑рда — wandering troop or gang
  • Serbo-Croatian: hȏrda — wandering troop or gang
  • Spanish: horda — wandering troop or gang
  • Swedish: hord — wandering troop or gang
  • Tatar: урда (urda) — wandering troop or gang
  • Turkish: ordu — wandering troop or gang
  • Turkmen: oorda — wandering troop or gang
  • Ukrainian: орда́ (ordá) — wandering troop or gang
  • Uzbek: oʻrda — wandering troop or gang
  • Volapük: nomadatrup — wandering troop or gang
  • Yakut: ордуу (orduu) — wandering troop or gang
  • Bulgarian: пълчи́ще (pǎlčíšte) — a large number of people
  • Chinese Mandarin: 群眾 /群众 (qúnzhòng) — a large number of people
  • Chinese Mandarin: 大眾 /大众 (dàzhòng) — a large number of people
  • Chinese Mandarin: 移動 /移动 (yídòng) — a large number of people
  • Chinese Mandarin: 部落 (bùluò) — a large number of people
  • Czech: horda — a large number of people
  • Danish: horde — a large number of people
  • Dutch: horde — a large number of people
  • Esperanto: hordo — a large number of people
  • Finnish: lauma — a large number of people
  • Finnish: ihmislauma — a large number of people
  • French: horde — a large number of people
  • German: Horde — a large number of people
  • Greek: ορδή (ordí) — a large number of people
  • Hungarian: sereg — a large number of people
  • Hungarian: horda — a large number of people
  • Irish: slua — a large number of people
  • Italian: orda — a large number of people
  • Macedonian: орда (orda) — a large number of people
  • Macedonian: толпа (tolpa) — a large number of people
  • Māori: manomano — a large number of people
  • Māori: tini — a large number of people
  • Māori: tinimano — a large number of people
  • Norwegian Bokmål: horde — a large number of people
  • Portuguese: multidão — a large number of people
  • Russian: орда́ (ordá) — a large number of people
  • Russian: по́лчище (pólčišče) — a large number of people
  • Serbo-Croatian: хо̑рда — a large number of people
  • Serbo-Croatian: ру̏ља — a large number of people
  • Serbo-Croatian: hȏrda — a large number of people
  • Serbo-Croatian: rȕlja — a large number of people
  • Ottoman Turkish: قالابالق (kalabalık) — a large number of people
  • Ottoman Turkish: كومه (küme) — a large number of people
  • Ottoman Turkish: سوری (sürü) — a large number of people
  • Ukrainian: орда́ (ordá) — a large number of people
Real reading context

horde in complete knowledge articles