shire
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shire¹
- /ʃaɪə/ UK
- /ʃaɪ(ə)ɹ/ US, Scotland
Rhymes with -aɪə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
The noun is derived from Middle English schire (“region, shire, county”) [and other forms], from Old English sċīr (“administrative region under an alderman and sheriff, shire; district under a governor or official; status of an official, office”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *skīru (“district; status of an official, office”); further etymology uncertain, possibly related to Latin cūra (“care, concern; administration, charge, management; command, office”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- (“to heed; to see”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
noun shires
- An administrative area or district between about the 5th to the 11th century, subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; also, a present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; a county; especially (England), a county having a name ending in -shire. Yorkshire is the largest shire in England.
- The people living in a shire (noun sense 1.1) considered collectively. You, my love, are a little paragon—positively a little jewel—You have more brains than half the shire— […]
- The general area in which a person comes from or lives. When are you coming back to the shire?
- An administrative area or district in other countries. [T]his old Evil-queſtioning asked the Doubters if they vvere all of a Tovvn, (he knevv that they vvere all of one Kingdom)? and they anſvvered no, nor not of one Shire neither; […]
- An outer suburban or rural local government area which elects its own council.
- Ellipsis of shire horse (“a draught horse of a tall British breed, usually bay, black, or grey”).
- A district or province governed by a person; specifically (Christianity), the province of an archbishop, the see of a bishop, etc. A third Seignorie or Shire there is that goeth to Apamia, vvhich in old time vvas called Celænæ, and aftervvards Ciboron: […]
- A region; also, a country. And Thyatira. It is a Citie of Lydia which is a ſhyre of Aſia the leſſe, the habitation of the Macedones, and of ſome the laſt Citie of the Myſians.
verb shires · shiring · shired
- To constitute or reconstitute (a country or region) into one or more shires (noun sense 1.1) or counties. County Longford was shired in 1586.
Shire²
Rhymes with -aɪə(ɹ)
Where it comes from
English and Irish surname, from shire.
proper noun Shires
- A surname.
- A placename.
- A river in Malawi and Mozambique
noun Shires
- A breed of draught horse; an individual of this breed. The Shire was a favorite on this estate.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: shire horse, reeve, constituency, buckingham, precinct, township, parish, moot, riding, cher, county, caithness, oxfordshire, inverness, kinross, dumfries
Translations
Every language
noun administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to suc
| Español | condado, comarca |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 셔 syeo |
| 日本語 | シャイア shaia, 郡 gun |
| 中文 | 郡 jùn, 夏 |
| Português | condado |
| Français | comté |
| Deutsch | Grafschaft |
| Italiano | contea |
| Română | judet, ținut |
| Русский | шир šir, гра́фство gráfstvo |
Talk about this word "shire." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/shire. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. shire. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/shire "shire." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/shire.Cite this
@misc{shire_2026,
title = {shire},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/shire},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
