shire

shire
\ \ [OE] The original meaning of shire, which did not survive beyond the Old English period, was ‘official charge, administrative office’, and it has been suggested that the word is related ultimately to Latin cūra ‘care, charge’ (source of English curate, cure, etc). Already by the 9th century it was being used for an ‘administrative area ruled by a governor’, and over the next hundred years the application to what is now known as a county emerged. (County itself was introduced in the 14th century, and gradually ousted shire.) Sheriff is a compound based on shire.
\ \ Cf.⇒ SHERIFF

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Shire — Shire, n. [AS. sc[=i]re, sc[=i]r, a division, province, county. Cf. {Sheriff}.] 1. A portion of Great Britain originally under the supervision of an earl; a territorial division, usually identical with a county, but sometimes limited to a smaller …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  • shire — [shīr] n. [ME < OE scir, office, charge, akin to OHG scīra, official charge] 1. any of the former districts or regions in Great Britain 2. any of the counties of England, esp. one with a name ending in shire 3. any of a breed of large,… …   English World dictionary

  • Shire [1] — Shire (engl., spr. Schihr), Grafschaft, welcher ein Sheriff (s.d. 2) vorsteht; wird den Hauptnamen angehängt, z.B. Devonshire, Yorkshire etc., entspricht vollständig der County (s.d.), vgl. England S. 703, Großbritannien S. 677 …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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