A compound of herd + book
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerdʰ- ‘file, row, herd’
Proto-Germanic *herdō
Proto-West Germanic *herdu
Old English hierd ‘herd, flock’
Middle English herde
English herd
Proto-Germanic *bōks ‘letter’
Proto-West Germanic *bōk ‘inscribed billet, letter’
Old English bōc
Middle English bok ‘a document’
English book
Today it means
noun A book listing the pedigrees of one or more herds of livestock, such as the lineage of a particular breed.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / herdbook
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