shire

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A shire is an area with its own government and police force, usually part of a larger region or country.

You might hear about places like Hampshire Shire in England, which is a big county with its own local authorities. In the UK, these areas are often called "shires" because they were originally self-governing regions ruled by a lord or earl. Today, shires usually have their own councils that make decisions for the people living there, like setting taxes and keeping public spaces tidy. Some countries use similar terms to divide up their territories, so you might hear about states or provinces in other parts of the world being compared to shires in this way.

How common is "shire"?

Word shire is considered rare in modern English.
It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.

Definitions

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.
Example: Yorkshire is the largest shire in England.
The people living in a shire (noun, sense 1.1) considered collectively.
The general area in which a person comes from or lives.
Example: When are you coming back to the shire?
(by extension) An administrative area or district in other countries.
Ellipsis of shire horse (“a draught horse of a tall British breed, usually bay, black, or grey”).
A district or province governed by a person; specifically (Christianity), the province of an archbishop, the see of a bishop, etc.
A region; also, a country.

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Real examples of "shire" in context

The Cast Remembers | Game of Thrones: Season 8 (HBO)

Interview

Shireen Baratheon.

6:30

I had a couple of scenes with Shireen that I loved doing...

6:32

Elijah Wood Tastes the Lava of Mount Doom While Eating Spicy Wings | Hot Ones

Interview

And then finally, is it true that you let out the fart heard round the shire, doing a hillside roll with your Hobbit castmates?

8:02

And there was also the cart. So when I jump into the cart at the very beginning of the film, when Gandalf's coming into the Shire for the first time and, you know, you're late and the wizard's never late.

12:45