Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

shire

/ʃaɪə/ noun

In Latin: comitātus Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about shire at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A former administrative district of England; equivalent to a county.
British breed of large heavy draft horse.

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word