Meaning

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..

Definitions by Sense

1. 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.
2. The people living in a shire (noun sense 1.1) considered collectively.
3. The general area in which a person comes from or lives.
4. (by extension) An administrative area or district in other countries.
5. Ellipsis of shire horse (“a draught horse of a tall British breed, usually bay, black, or grey”).
6. A district or province governed by a person; specifically (Christianity), the province of an archbishop, the see of a bishop, etc.
7. A region; also, a country.
8. (transitive) To constitute or reconstitute (a country or region) into one or more shires (noun sense 1.1) or counties.

Example Sentences

Yorkshire is the largest shire in England.

I thanke his grace he hath appointed him, / Chiefe colonell of all thoſe companies / Muſtred in London, and the ſhires about, / To ſerue his highneſſe in thoſe warres of France: […]

But thus I do conjecture it to be, That at the firſt Unitining^([sic – meaning Uniting?]) of the Heptarchy of the Saxons, and the Shiring out of the Kingdom, it vvas divided into Shires, and the Shires again into Hundreds, as it fell out, in ſome more, in ſome leſs: VVhich Shires (as I have ſaid) the King gave to ſuch as he pleaſed, and to their Heirs, to hold of him by an Earls Fee.

In August, 1642, the sword was at length drawn; and soon, in almost every shire of the kingdom, two hostile factions appeared in arms against each other.

Mrs. Heywood tells me that there are many Catholics among the lower classes in Lancashire and Cheshire,—probably the descendants of retainers of the old Catholic nobility and gentry, who are more numerous in these shires than in other parts of England.

As through the wild green hills of Wyre / The train ran, changing sky and shire, / […] / My hand lay empty on my knee. / Aching on my knee it lay: / That morning half a shire away / So many an honest fellow's fist / Had wellnigh wrung it from the wrist.

The early history of the shire is hard to trace. Already in the ninth century it seems to have been the core administrative division within Wessex. Originally each shire was overseen by an ealdorman, who was charged with raising levies and perhaps also overseeing the local court (though the evidence is scant on the latter point). At the heart of the shire lay the local assembly (the ‘shire court’), at which such business was conducted.

Word Forms

• shires
• shiring
• shired

Synonyms for shire

Antonyms for shire

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When Should You Use Shire?

Use shire when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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