shire

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

shire, n. [AS. scīre, scīr, a division, province, county. Cf. Sheriff.].

•  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 district; as, Wiltshire, Yorkshire, Richmondshire, Hallamshire.  [1913 Webster]

  "An indefinite number of these hundreds make up a county or shire."  [1913 Webster]
•  A division of a State, embracing several contiguous townships; a county.  [1913 Webster]

  " Shire is commonly added to the specific designation of a county as a part of its name; as, Yorkshire instead of York shire, or the shire of York; Berkshire instead of Berks shire. Such expressions as the county of Yorkshire, which in a strict sense are tautological, are used in England. In the United States the composite word is sometimes the only name of a county; as, Berkshire county, as it is called in Massachusetts, instead of Berks county, as in Pensylvania."  [1913 Webster]

  "The Tyne, Tees, Humber, Wash, Yare, Stour, and Thames separate the counties of Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, etc."  [1913 Webster]

Knight of the shire. See under Knight. -- Shire clerk, an officer of a county court; also, an under sheriff. [Eng.] -- Shire mote (Old. Eng. Law), the county court; sheriff's turn, or court. [Obs.] Cowell. Blackstone. -- Shire reeve (Old Eng. Law), the reeve, or bailiff, of a shire; a sheriff. Burrill. -- Shire town, the capital town of a county; a county town. -- Shire wick, a county; a shire. [Obs.] Holland.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

shire, n. Brit.
1 a county.
2 (the Shires) a a group of English counties with names ending or formerly ending in -shire, extending NE from Hampshire and Devon. b the midland counties of England. c the fox-hunting district of mainly Leicestershire and Northants.
3 Austral. a rural area with its own elected council.

Idiom

shire-horse a heavy powerful type of draught-horse bred chiefly in the midland counties of England.

Etymology

OE scir, OHG scira care, official charge: orig. unkn.

THESAURUS

shire

Kreis, archbishopric, archdiocese, arrondissement, bailiwick, bishopric, borough, canton, city, commune, congressional district, constablewick, county, departement, diocese, district, duchy, electoral district, electorate, government, hamlet, hundred, magistracy, metropolis, metropolitan area, oblast, okrug, parish, precinct, principality, province, region, riding, sheriffalty, sheriffwick, shrievalty, soke, stake, state, territory, town, township, village, wapentake, ward

ROGET THESAURUS

shire

Government

N government, legal authority, soveriegn, sovereign authority, authority, master, direction, national government, nation, state, country, nation- state, dominion, republic, empire, union, democratic republic, kingdom, principality, state government, state, shire, province, county, canton, territory, duchy, archduchy, archdukedom, woiwodshaft, commonwealth, region, property, county, parish city, domain, tract, arrondissement, mofussil, commune, wappentake, hundred, riding, lathe, garth, soke, tithing, ward, precinct, bailiwick, command, empire, sway, rule, dominion, domination, sovereignty, supremacy, suzerainty, lordship, headship, chiefdom, seigniory, seigniority, rule, sway, command, control, administer, govern, lead, preside over, reign, possess the throne, be seated on the throne, occupy the throne, sway the scepter, wield the scepter, wear the crown, state, realm, body politic, posse comitatus, judicature, cabinet, seat of government, seat of authority, headquarters, accession, installation, politics, reign, regime, dynasty, directorship, dictatorship, protectorate, protectorship, caliphate, pashalic, electorate, presidency, presidentship, administration, proconsul, consulship, prefecture, seneschalship, magistrature, magistracy, monarchy, kinghood, kingship, royalty, regality, aristarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy, theocracy, demagogy, commonwealth, dominion, heteronomy, republic, republicanism, socialism, collectivism, mob law, mobocracy, ochlocracy, vox populi, imperium in imperio, bureaucracy, beadledom, bumbledom, stratocracy, military power, military government, junta, feodality, feudal system, feudalism, thearchy, theocracy, dinarchy, duarchy, triarchy, heterarchy, duumvirate, triumvirate, autocracy, autonomy, limited monarchy, constitutional government, constitutional monarchy, home rule, representative government, monocracy, pantisocracy, gynarchy, gynocracy, gynaeocracy, petticoat government, legislature, judiciary, administration, office of the president, office of the prime minister, cabinet, senate, house of representatives, parliament, council, courts, supreme court, state, interior, labor, health and human services, defense, education, agriculture, justice, commerce, treasury, Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, National Institutes of Health, NIH, Postal Service, Post Office, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, president, vice president, cabinet member, prime minister, minister, senator, representatative, president pro tem, speaker of the house, department head, section head, section chief, federal judge, justice, justice of the supreme court, chief justice, treasurer, secretary of the treasury, director of the FBI, governor, state cabinet member, state senator, assemblyman, assemblywoman, regal, sovereign, governing, royal, royalist, monarchical, kingly, imperial, imperiatorial, princely, feudal, aristocratic, autocratic, oligarchic, republican, dynastic, ruling, regnant, gubernatorial, imperious, authoritative, executive, administrative, clothed with authority, official, departmental, ex officio, imperative, peremptory, overruling, absolute, hegemonic, hegemonical, authorized, government, public, national, federal, his majesty's, her majesty's, state, county, city, N, a dog's obeyed in office, cada uno tiene su alguazil, le Roi le veut, regibus esse manus en nescio longas, regnant populi, the demigod Authority, the right divine of kings to govern wrong, uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.