shire

From Middle English shire, from Old English scir, from Proto-West Germanic *skīru.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ʃaɪə(ɹ)/

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ʃaɪəɹ/

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• Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)

shire (plural shires)

1. Physical area administered by a sheriff.
2. Former administrative area of Britain; a county.

   Yorkshire is the largest shire in England.

3. (UK, colloquial) The general area in which a person lives or comes from, used in the context of travel within the United Kingdom.

   When are you coming back to the shire?

4. A rural or outer suburban local government area of Australia.
5. A shire horse.

• sheriff

• → Icelandic: skíri

shire (third-person singular simple present shires, present participle shiring, simple past and past participle shired)

1. To (re)constitute as one or more shires or counties.
   • 1985, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, page 291:

     Although he still managed formally to shire the province in the summer and autumn of 1585, his plan to establish a presidential government and complete the integration of Ulster into English Ireland met with royal indifference.

   • 2012, James Lydon, The Making of Ireland: From Ancient Times to the Present, →ISBN, page 160:

     The province was shired into nine counties, […]

   County Longford was shired in 1586

• “shire”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

• Hersi, Hires, Hiser, Sheri, Shier, heirs, hi-res, hires, reish, shier

From Proto-Mongolic *sirexe, compare Mongolian ширээ (širee).

• IPA^(key): /ʂiˈrə/, [ʂɨˈrɛ]

shire

1. table

   ijieku dunxila chukuide wo, yunjiku dunxila shire jiere wo.

   The food is in the cupboard and the things for use are on the table.

From Old English sċīr (“shire”), from Proto-West Germanic *skīru. The final vowel is generalised from the Old English inflected forms.

• shiere, chire, ssire, schire, schyre

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃiːr(ə)/

shire (plural shires)

1. shire, district, county
   • late 14th c. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales. General Prologue: 15-16.

     And specially from every shires ende

     Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,

     And specially from every shire's end

     Of England they to Canterbury went,

• shirreve

• Scots: shire
• English: shire
  • → Icelandic: skíri

From Old English sċīr (“bright”).

shire

1. Alternative form of schyre (“bright”)

From Old English sċīran, from Proto-Germanic *skīrijaną.

shire

1. Alternative form of schiren