Emily Dickinson Lexicon

HORD, or HORDE, n. [D. horde, a clan, and a hurdle; G. horde, a clan, and a pen or fold. This seems to be the Sax. heord, a herd.]

A company of wandering people dwelling in tents or wagons, and migrating from place to place to procure pasturage for their cattle. Such are some tribes of the Tartars in the north of Asia. A hord usually consists of fifty or sixty tents. Encyc. Mitford.