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Webster 1913 Edition

Shire

Shire

,
Noun.
[AS.
scīre
,
scīr
, a division, province, county. Cf.
Sheriff
.]
1.
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, Wilt
shire
, York
shire
, Richmond
shire
, Hallam
shire
.
An indefinite number of these hundreds make up a county or
shire
.
Blackstone.
2.
A division of a State, embracing several contiguous townships; a county.
[U. S.]
☞ Shire is commonly added to the specific designation of a county as a part of its name; as, Yorkshire instead of York shire, or the shire of York; Berkshire instead of Berks shire. Such expressions as the county of Yorkshire, which in a strict sense are tautological, are used in England. In the United States the composite word is sometimes the only name of a county; as, Berkshire county, as it is called in Massachusetts, instead of Berks county, as in Pensylvania.
The Tyne, Tees, Humber, Wash, Yare, Stour, and Thames separate the counties of Northumberland, Durham, York
shire
, Lincoln
shire
, etc.
Encyc. Brit.
Knight of the shire
.
See under
Knight
.
–
Shire clerk
,
an officer of a county court; also, an under sheriff.
[Eng.]
–
Shire mote
(Old. Eng. Law)
,
the county court; sheriff’s turn, or court.
[Obs.]
Cowell.
Blackstone.
–
Shire reeve
(Old Eng. Law)
,
the reeve, or bailiff, of a shire; a sheriff.
Burrill.
–
Shire town
,
the capital town of a county; a county town.
–
Shire wick
,
a county; a shire.
[Obs.]
Holland.

Webster 1828 Edition

Shire

SHIRE

,
Noun.
In England, a division of territory, otherwise called a county. The shire was originally a division of the kingdom under the jurisdiction of an earl or count, whose authority was entrusted to the sherif. [shire-reeve.] On this officer the goverment ultimately devolved. In the United States, the corresponding division of a state is called a county, but we retain shire in the in the compound half-shire; as when the county court is held in two towns in the same county alternately, we call one of the divisions a half-shire.
In some states, shire as the constituent part of the name of a county, as Berkshire, Hampshire, in Massachusetts. These being the names established by law, we cannot say, the county of Berkshire, and we cannot with propriety say, the caounty of Berks, for there is no county in Massa chusetts thus named.

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