Definitions for shire
ˈʃi reɪshire

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. shirenoun

   a former administrative district of England; equivalent to a county

2. shire, shire horsenoun

   British breed of large heavy draft horse

WiktionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. shirenoun

   Former administrative area of Britain; a county.

   Yorkshire is the largest shire in England.

2. shirenoun

   The general area in which a person lives, used in the context of travel within the UK:

   "When are you coming back to the shire?"

3. shirenoun

   A rural or outer suburban local government area of Australia.

4. shirenoun

   A shire horse

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Shirenoun

   A division of the kingdom; a county; so much of the kingdom as is under one sheriff.

   Etymology: scir , from sciran , to divide, Sax. skyre, Erse.

   His blazing eyes, like two bright shining shields,
   Did burn with wrath, and sparkled living fire;
   As two broad beacons, set in open fields,
   Send forth their flames far off to every shire. Fa. Queen.

   The noble youths from distant shires resort. Matthew Prior.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Shire

   Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement, and spread to most of the rest of England in the tenth century. In some rural parts of Australia, a shire is a local government area; however, in Australia it is not synonymous with a "county", which is a lands administrative division.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. shire

   A shire is a historical division of land in Great Britain, traditionally a county with a shire town. The term can also be used to refer to similar territorial divisions in other countries. In addition, in modern times, it is used in some countries (such as Australia) to denote a local government area.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Shirenoun

   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; as, Wiltshire, Yorkshire, Richmondshire, Hallamshire

2. Shirenoun

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

3. Etymology: [AS. scre, scr, a division, province, county. Cf. Sheriff.]

WikidataRate this definition:3.5 / 2 votes

1. Shire

   A shire is a traditional term for a division of land, found in the United Kingdom and in Australia. In parts of Australia, a shire is an administrative unit, but it is not synonymous with "county" there, which is a land registration unit. Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland and in the far northeast of England, the word is pronounced. As a suffix in an English or Welsh place name, it is in most regions pronounced, or sometimes. In Britain, "shire" is the original term for what is usually known as a county; the word county having been introduced at the Norman Conquest of England. The two are synonymous. Although in modern British usage counties are referred to as "shires" mainly in poetic contexts, terms such as Shire Hall remain common. Shire also remains a common part of many county names. The word derives from the Old English scir, itself a derivative of the Proto-Germanic skizo, meaning care or official charge. The system was first used in Wessex from the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement, and spread to most of the rest of England in the tenth century, along with West Saxon political control. In Domesday the city of York was divided into shires. The first shires of Scotland were created in English-settled areas such as Lothian and the Borders, in the ninth century. King David I more consistently created shires and appointed sheriffs across lowland shores of Scotland.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:2.0 / 2 votes

1. Shire

   shīr, shir (in county-names), n. a county, one of the larger divisions of England for political purposes—originally a division of the kingdom under a sheriff, the deputy of the ealdorman: a term also surviving as applied to certain smaller districts in England, as Richmondshire and Hallamshire.—ns. Shire′man, a sheriff; Shire′-moot, Shire′-mote, formerly in England a court of the county held periodically by the sheriff together with the bishop or the ealdorman. [A.S. scir, scire, a county, sciran, a secondary form of sceran, to cut off.]

The Nuttall EncyclopediaRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Shiré

   a river of East Africa, flows out of Lake Nyassa, and passes in a southerly course through the Shiré Highlands, a distance of 370 m., till it joins the Zambesi; discovered by Livingstone.

Etymology and OriginsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Shire

   A portion of land scired or sheared off under the Saxon Heptarchy for the creation of an earldom.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. SHIRE

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Shire is ranked #17239 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Shire surname appeared 1,643 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Shire.
   
   67.7% or 1,113 total occurrences were White.
   26.1% or 430 total occurrences were Black.
   1.9% or 32 total occurrences were Asian.
   1.9% or 32 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   1.8% or 30 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   0.3% or 6 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

1. • Administrative District
   • Draft Horse

Anagrams for shire »

1. heirs

2. hires

3. hi-res

4. Sheri

5. shier

6. hirse

How to pronounce shire?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say shire in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of shire in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of shire in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of shire in a Sentence

1. Shire Chief Executive Flemming Ornskov:

   We believe the proposed combination of Shire and Baxalta would be strategically and financially attractive for both of our companies, accelerating our respective growth ambitions and creating the leading global biotech company in rare diseases, it is our strong preference to immediately enter into a negotiated transaction to explore the full potential of the proposed combination and finalize the terms of an agreement.

2. Mark Enyedy:

   We are extremely pleased that the Federal Circuit affirmed the District Court's ruling that the patents are valid, which further confirms that Shire has strong patents protecting Vyvanse.

3. Shire Chief Executive Flemming Ornskov:

   We are incredibly cash-generative and this will add to that, so this does not prevent us from considering further deals, shire is always considering the next deal.

4. Louise Makin:

   In some ways we are very similar to Shire but we are operating in a different world and we are doing it 10 to 15 years later than them.

5. Mark Enyedy:

   We are extremely pleased that Federal Circuit affirmed the District Court's ruling that the patents are valid, which further confirms that Shire has strong patents protecting Vyvanse.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=shire
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Shire
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=shire
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shire
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=shire
8. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=shire
9. ^ The Nuttall Encyclopedia
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12342/pg12342-images.html#Shire
10. ^ Etymology and Origins
    https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/54657/pg54657-images.html#:~:text=shire
11. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
    https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html