The Spanish verb 'herir' meaning 'to wound' comes directly from the Latin verb 'ferire' meaning 'to strike' or 'to wound'. This is a clear example of the common Latin 'f-' to Spanish 'h-' sound change that occurred in many Spanish words. The meaning has remained quite stable from Latin to Spanish, though Spanish retained more of the 'wound' sense while somewhat reducing the broader 'strike' meaning.

Some related Spanish words include 'herida' (wound, injury), 'herido' (wounded, injured), and 'heridor' (one who wounds). These all share the same Latin root and form a clear word family around the concept of wounding or injury.

While English doesn't have many common direct cognates with 'herir', we do see this Latin root in some more technical English terms like 'perforate' (to pierce through) and 'ferrous' (relating to iron - connected through the concept of weapons that could strike or wound). The word 'fierce' also comes from this Latin root, originally referring to something wild or threatening that could wound.