Sord

//sɔː(ɹ)d// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A flock of mallards. obsolete, rare

    ""Oh, I, well, I too fell into error, for I frittered away my morning in stalking yonder exaltation of larks, thinking they were dunlin, and in doing so disturbed the only sord of mallards on the whole marsh.""

  2. 2
    Obsolete form of sward. alt-of, obsolete

    "This is the prettieſt Lovv-borne Laſſe, that euer / Ran on the greene-ſord: […]"

Example

More examples

""Oh, I, well, I too fell into error, for I frittered away my morning in stalking yonder exaltation of larks, thinking they were dunlin, and in doing so disturbed the only sord of mallards on the whole marsh.""

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English sowrde, from Old French sourdre (“to rise”), that is, "to rise in flight, as a flock of birds", from Latin surgō. Related to surge.

Etymology 2

See sward.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.