sheriff

English

/ˈʃɛɹɪf/

noun
Definitions
  • (British) (High Sheriff) An official of a shire or county office, responsible for carrying out court orders, law enforcement and other duties.
  • (Scotland) A judge in the sheriff court, the court of a county or sheriffdom.
  • (US) A government official, usually responsible for law enforcement in his county and for administration of the county jail, sometimes an officer of the court, usually elected.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English shirreve inherited from Old English scīrġerēfa (sheriff, shire-reeve) affix from English shire + English reeve.

Origin

English

reeve

Gloss

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

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Cognates and derived terms