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You are here: Home / Language / What Does the Word “Bailiwick” For Private Property Mean and How Did the Term “Bailiff” Originate?

What Does the Word “Bailiwick” For Private Property Mean and How Did the Term “Bailiff” Originate?

June 25, 2020 by Karen Hill

Bailiwick is an old English legal term and is a compound of baile, which is now bailiff, and wic, meaning a farm or dwelling.

From the mid-fifteenth century the word meant “under a bailiff’s jurisdiction”, which leads us to the sheriff.

During monarchial rule, each English shire had a reeve who acted as chief magistrate for the district.

When the title “shire reeve” crossed the Atlantic it became “sheriff.”

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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