shire

A former administrative division of Great Britain, equivalent to a county.

A Shire horse.

An obsolete form of sheer.

A share; a portion.

Originally, a division of the kingdom of England under the jurisdiction of an ealdorman, whose authority was intrusted to the sheriff (‘shire-reeve’), on whom the government ultimately devolved; also, in Anglo-Saxon use, in general, a district, province, diocese, or parish; in later and present use, one of the larger divisions into which Great Britain is parted out for political and administrative purposes; a county.

A shire-moot. See the quotation under shire-day.

A portion of Great Britain originally under the supervision of an earl; a territorial division, usually identical with a county, but sometimes limited to a smaller district.

A division of a State, embracing several contiguous townships; a county.

See under Knight.

an officer of a county court; also, an under sheriff.