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.
hōrdrhotic, 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