Where does the word "bailiwick" come from and What does bailiwick mean?

A wick, in olden times, was a village, from the Latin, vicus, village.

It survives now chiefly in place names, often as with, as in Warwick, Greenwich, Norwich. And the bailie, whom we now call bailiff, was the administrative officer. Thus a bailiwick was actually the district over which a bailiff had jurisdiction.

We use the term figuratively now to mean also any place that one regards as one’s own.

where does the word bailiwick come from and what does bailiwick mean scaled

What Does the Word “Bailiwick” For Private Property Mean and How Did the Term “Bailiff” Originate? 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…
What does the word “gauntlet” mean and Where does the word gauntlet come from? During the Thirty Years' War, which lasted from 1618 to 1648, the English forces observed a form of disciplinary punishment used among their German allies. It looked highly effective, so it was not…
What does the word incubus (succubus) mean and Where does the word “incubus” come from? In the Middle Ages any woman who gave birth to a witch or sorceress was supposed to have been visited, in her sleep, by a male demon or evil spirit. The name given…
Where does the word “Toilet” come from and What does the word Toilet mean in French? The word "toilet" has had a rather curious development in the little more than four hundred years it has been in the language. Its origin was the French toilette, the diminutive of wile,…
What Does the Word Scapegoat Mean and Where Did the Word Scapegoat Come From? A Scapegoat is a member of a group singled out for undeserved blame or negative treatment. The word "scapegoat" is a mistranslation of the word Azazel. An early Greek translation of the Old…
What Does the Word “Clock” Mean in French and Where Did the Word For a Large Timepiece Come From? Like cloche in French, the word clock literally means bell. When the large mechanical clock was invented in the fourteenth century it didn't tell time with a face and hands, but rather by…

Where does the word “bailiwick” come from and What does bailiwick mean?

Related Posts

About Karen Hill