transhumance
noun
- seasonal movement of livestock (such as sheep) between mountain and lowland pastures either under the care of herders or in company with the owners
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /tɹænzˈhjuːməns/
noun
Etymology: Borrowed from French transhumance, ultimately from Latin trāns (“across, beyond”) + humus (“ground”).
- The seasonal movement of grazing livestock (especially cattle, sheep, or goats) to new pastures which may be quite distant; alpine and nonalpine versions of such movement exist.
“There are rites of spring in the mountains, and this week I followed the transhumance, the annual movement of cattle, from their lower valley winter quarters up to the higher pastures.”