shire

/ʃaɪə//ʃaɪ(ə)ɹ/

shire noun: 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. Also the ellipsis of shire horse.

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Noun (1)

shire (plural shires)

(UK, historical) 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.
- 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: […]1599 (first performance; published 1600), Thomas Dekker, “The Shomakers Holiday. Or The Gentle Craft. […]”, in The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker […], volume I, London: John Pearson […], published...
(UK, broadly) The people living in a shire (noun sense 1.1) considered collectively.
- You, my love, are a little paragon—positively a little jewel—You have more brains than half the shire— […]1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Arcadian Simplicity”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 94
(UK, broadly, informal) The general area in which a person comes from or lives.
- When are you coming back to the shire?
(broadly) An administrative area or district in other countries.
- [T]his old Evil-queſtioning asked the Doubters if they vvere all of a Tovvn, (he knevv that they vvere all of one Kingdom)? and they anſvvered no, nor not of one Shire neither; […]1682, John Bunyan, “[Three or Four of the Doubters Go into Mansoul, are Entertained, and by whom]”, in The Holy War, Made by Shaddai upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World....
1. (Australia, attributive, broadly, often) An outer suburban or rural local government area which elects its own council.
(obsolete) A district or province governed by a person; specifically (Christianity), the province of an archbishop, the see of a bishop, etc.
- A third Seignorie or Shire there is that goeth to Apamia, vvhich in old time vvas called Celænæ, and aftervvards Ciboron: […]1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book V.] Laodicea, Apamia, Ionia, Ephesus.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie...
(broadly, obsolete, generally) A region; also, a country.
- And Thyatira. It is a Citie of Lydia which is a ſhyre of Aſia the leſſe, the habitation of the Macedones, and of ſome the laſt Citie of the Myſians.1574, Augustine Marlorate [i.e., Augustin Marlorat], “[Revelation 1:11]”, in Arthur Golding, transl., A Catholike Exposition vpon the Reuelation of Sainct Iohn. […], London: […] H[enry] Binneman, for...
- His blazing eyes, like tvvo bright ſhining ſhieldes, / Did burne vvith vvrath, and ſparkled liuing fyre; / As tvvo broad Beacons, ſett in open fieldes, / Send forth their flames far of to euery ſhyre, […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 13, page 158

Verb

shire (third-person singular simple present shires, present participle shiring, simple past and past participle shired)

(transitive) To constitute or reconstitute (a country or region) into one or more shires (noun sense 1.1) or counties.
- County Longford was shired in 1586.
- [I]t made no Matter, if the Countrie vvere never ſhired, nor her Majesties VVritt othervviſe curraunt then it is; for humblye he kepeth all his People ſubiect to Obedience and good Order; […]1575 December 26 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Henry Sidney, “Sir Henry Sydney to the Lords of the Councell”, in Arthur Collins, Letters and Memorials of State, in the Reigns of Queen Mary...

Proper noun capitalized: Shire

Shire (plural Shires)

A surname.
A placename.
1. A river in Malawi and Mozambique

Noun (2) capitalized: Shire

Shire (plural Shires)

A breed of draught horse; an individual of this breed.
- The Shire was a favorite on this estate.
- This estate kept a stable of Shires for the heavier work.

Also used as

shire is also the ellipsis of shire horse.

shire meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

shire in Hindi

शिरे

shire in Tamil

ஷைர், ஷையர்

shire in Marathi

शिरे

shire in Urdu

شائر

More languagesFewer languages

shire in Bengali: শায়ার
shire in Telugu: షైర్
shire in Malayalam: ഷൈർ
shire in Kannada: ಶೈರ್, ಷೈರ್, ಶೈರ್ಗೆ
shire in Gujarati: શિરે
shire in Odia: ଶୈର୍, ଶାଯ଼ାର
shire in Persian: شایر
shire in Thai: ไชร์
shire in Myanmar: ရှိုင်းယား hruing:ya:

Examples of shire in a sentence

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.1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter I, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown...
The early history of the shire is hard to trace.2016, Levi Roach, “Birth and Childhood: The Court of King Edgar, c. 966×9–75”, in Æthelred the Unready, New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale...
The province was shired into nine counties, with sheriffs and the whole apparatus of English local government.1998, James Lydon, “The End of the Old Order”, in The Making of Ireland: From Ancient Times to the Present, London; New York, N.Y....

Forms of shire

Noun
plural	shires
plural	Shires
Verb
third-person singular present	shires
present participle	shiring
past participle	shired
past	shired
Proper noun
plural	Shires

Plural of shire: shires

Origin of 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.

English and Irish surname, from shire.

Words formed from shire

Phrases with shire

Words that rhyme with shire

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about shire

What does shire mean?: Shire means 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.
What is shire in Hindi?: Shire in Hindi is शिरे. See Shire meaning in Hindi.
How do you use shire in a sentence?: 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.
What part of speech is shire?: Shire can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce shire?: Shire is pronounced /ʃaɪə/ (UK).
What is the plural of shire?: The plural of shire is shires.

Words near shire in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-shire.wav, En-us-shire.oga.

Cite this entry: “shire.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/shire. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.