shire

noun8

1. •
   (UK) The people living in a shire considered collectively.

   • You, my love, are a little paragon—positively a little jewel—You have more brains than half the shire— […] — 1847
2. •
   (UK) 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.
3. •
   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
4. •
   [before a noun] (Australia) An outer suburban or rural local government area which elects its own council.
5. •
   (UK, informal) The general area in which a person comes from or lives.

   • When are you coming back to the shire?
6. •
   Ellipsis of shire horse (“a draught horse of a tall British breed, usually bay, black, or grey”).
7. •
   (no longer used) 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 Celaenae, and aftervvards Ciboron: […] — 1601
8. •
   (no longer used) 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

verb1

1. •
   To constitute or reconstitute (a country or region) into one or more shires or counties.

   • County Longford was shired in 1586.

noun2

1. •
   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.
2. •
   A river in Malawi and Mozambique