name
Meaning 1
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
shire
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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rhymes with -aɪə(ɹ)
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Received-Pronunciation: /ʃaɪə/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American, Scotland: /ʃaɪ(ə)ɹ/
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General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: SH AY1 R Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
name
Meaning 2
A placename.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 3
A placename.
A river in Malawi and Mozambique
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
name
Meaning 4
A breed of draught horse.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, historical
Examples
- Yorkshire is the largest shire in England.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
The people living in a shire (noun sense 1.1) considered collectively.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, broadly
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
The general area in which a person comes from or lives.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, broadly, informal
Examples
- When are you coming back to the shire?
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
An administrative area or district in other countries.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
An administrative area or district in other countries.
An outer suburban or rural local government area which elects its own council.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, attributive, broadly, often
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
Ellipsis of shire horse (“a draught horse of a tall British breed, usually bay, black, or grey”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 11
A district or province governed by a person; specifically (Christianity), the province of an archbishop, the see of a bishop, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 12
A region; also, a country.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, obsolete
Qualifier: generally
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 13
A horse of this breed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: draught horse, draft horse, horse, animal, creature
verb
Meaning 14
To constitute or reconstitute (a country or region) into one or more shires (noun sense 1.1) or counties.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- County Longford was shired in 1586.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 15
British breed of large heavy draft horse
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: shire horse
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: draft horse, draught horse, dray horse
noun
Meaning 16
a former administrative district of England; equivalent to a county
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: administrative district, administrative division, territorial division
History
Etymology
English and Irish surname, from shire.
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.
Across languages
Translations
55 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Chichewa: Mtsinje wa Shire — river
- Chichewa: Shire — river
- Yao (Africa): Lusulo lwa Shire class 11 — river
- Bulgarian: гра́фство (gráfstvo) — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Burmese: ရှိုင်းယား (hruing:ya:) — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Catalan: comtat — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Chinese Mandarin: 郡 (jùn) — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Chinese Mandarin: 夏 — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Czech: hrabství — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Danish: grevskab — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Dutch: graafschap — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Esperanto: graflando — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Finnish: kreivikunta — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- French: comté — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Galician: condado — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Georgian: საგრაფო (sagrapo) — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- German: Grafschaft — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Old High German: scīra — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Hungarian: megye — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Icelandic: skíri — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Irish: sír — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Italian: contea — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Japanese: シャイア (shaia) — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Japanese: 郡 (gun) — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Korean: 셔 (syeo) — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Latin: comitātus — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Manx: sheer — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Middle English: schire — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Occitan: comtat — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Persian: شایر — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Polish: hrabstwo — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Portuguese: condado — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Romanian: judet — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Romanian: ținut — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Russian: шир (šir) — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Russian: гра́фство (gráfstvo) — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Scottish Gaelic: siorrachd — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Scottish Gaelic: siorramachd — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Spanish: condado — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Spanish: comarca — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Swedish: grevskap — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Thai: ไชร์ — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Ukrainian: шир (šyr) — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Welsh: sir — administrative area or district subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; administrative area or district in other countries — see also county
- Finnish: kreivikunta — people living in a shire considered collectively
- Middle English: schire — people living in a shire considered collectively
- Finnish: kotiseutu — general area in which a person comes from or lives
- Middle English: schire — general area in which a person comes from or lives
- Chinese Mandarin: 郡 (jùn) — (Australia) outer suburban or rural local government area which elects its own council
- Finnish: piirikunta — (Australia) outer suburban or rural local government area which elects its own council
- French: comté — (Australia) outer suburban or rural local government area which elects its own council
- Icelandic: skíri — (Australia) outer suburban or rural local government area which elects its own council
- Polish: hrabstwo — (Australia) outer suburban or rural local government area which elects its own council
- Finnish: jakaa kreivikunniksi — to constitute or reconstitute (a country or region) into one or more shires or counties
- Finnish: perustaa kreivikunta — to constitute or reconstitute (a country or region) into one or more shires or counties
Real reading context