shire Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a former administrative district of England; equivalent to a county
  2. noun British breed of large heavy draft horse
    shire horse.

WordNet

Shire noun
Etymology
AS. scire, scir, a division, province, county. Cf. Sheriff.
Definitions
  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, Wiltshire, Yorkshire, Richmondshire, Hallamshire.
    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, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, etc. Encyc. Brit.

Webster 1913