| 释义 |
▪ I. shire, n.|ʃaɪə(r)|
Forms: 1–3 scír, (1 sciir, scýr, -scíre, 2 -sir, ? scur, 3 ssire), 3–7 schire, 4–7 schyre, (5 schere, -shir, shyr, sher, chyer), 5–6 schyr, (5–7 sheere), 5–9 shyre, (6 schier, schyir, scyre, shyere, sheyre, 6–7 sh(i)ere, shyer, sheire, 7, 9 dial. sheer), 4– shire.
[OE. scír str. fem. = OHG. scîra care, official charge (only in two glosses, scirono negotiorum, scira habat procurat).
The OTeut. form may have been either *skīrō or *skīzō. It has been suggested that *skīzō may represent a pre-Teut. *skeisā-, related to OItalic *koisā- in L. cūra care (:—coira), Pælignian coisatens ‘curaverunt’.
The OE. word occurs once (a 1030) with wk. declension, in the compound ᵹerefsciran ‘villicationis’ (Rule St. Benet ed. Logeman, p. 107).]
†1. (OE. only.) Official charge; administrative office (e.g. that of a steward, bishop, governor etc.).
c725Corpus Gloss. 692 Dispensatio, scir. Ibid. 1625 Procuratio, sciir. c893ælfred Oros. vi. xxxi. 286 Þæt him leofre wæs se cristendom to beganne þonne his scira to habbanne. a1100Gerefa in Anglia IX. 259 Hede se ðe scire healde þæt he friðiᵹe and forðiᵹe ælce be ðam ðe hit selest sy.
†2. A province or district under the rule of a governor; the see of a bishop, the province of an archbishop, or the like; in wider sense, a country, region, district. Obs.
In the later examples transf. from sense 3.
c893ælfred Oros. i. i. 19 Ohthere sæde þæt sio scir hatte Halᵹoland þe he on bude. 11..Fragm. ælfric's Gloss. (1838) 3 Provincia vel pagus, scur. a1225Ancr. R. 334 And hu biseinte Sodome & Gomorre,..& alle þe nome⁓cuðe buruhwes, al ane muchele schire, adun into helle grunde. 1338R. Brunne Chron. (1725) 299 The bisshop of Canterbire þerof payed was he, For him and alle his schire [Langtoft: pur ly et sa province] þis gift gaf fulle fre. a1400Octovian 227 The folk þo com fram eche a schyre Ryȝt ynto Rome. c1440Chester Plays (E.E.T.S.) 386 Goe, echon, to dyvers contray, and preach to Shyre and Citty The fayth. c1470Henry Wallace viii. 946 All Mydlame land thai brynt wp in a fyr, Brak parkis doun, distroyit all the schyr. 1574tr. Marlorat's Apocalips 19 Thyatira..is a Citie of Lydia which is a shyre of Asia the lesse. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. xi. 14 As two broad Beacons, set in open fields, Send forth their flames farre off to euery shyre. 1615Wither Sheph. Hunt. v. G 2 b, Art not thou hee, that but this other yeere Scard'st all the Wolues and Foxes in the sheere? 1601Holland Pliny v. xxix. I. 107 A third Seignorie or Shire there is that goeth to Apamia. 1824W. Taylor in Monthly Mag. LVII. 407 The dame..Was in all Britany the fairest woman, Though 'tis a shire renown'd for handsome ladies.
3. a. spec. In Old English times, an administrative district, consisting of a number of smaller districts (‘hundreds’ or ‘wapentakes’), united for purposes of local government, and ruled jointly by an ealdorman and a sheriff, who presided in the shire-moot. Under Norman rule, the division of England into shires was continued, the AF. counté, Anglo-Latin comitatus, being adopted as the equivalent of the English term. At the present day shire is rare in official use, but is current as a literary synonym for county (chiefly restricted to those counties that have names ending in -shire). The counties of Wales, and most of those of Scotland, have -shire as the ending of their name, but the word is now rarely employed in speaking of them. The counties of Ireland were often called shires in the 16–17th c., but the use is now obsolete.
England.a1000Laws æthelstan, Lond. x. (Liebermann) 181 Ðæt ælc ᵹerefa name þæt wedd on his aᵹenre scire. c1290St. Kenelm 23 in S. Eng. Leg. 346 Þe schire of gloucestre. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 62 Viue & þritti ssiren hii made in engelonde. c1386Chaucer Friar's T. 103 If that thee happe to comen in oure shire Al shal be thyn right as thou wolt desire. 1414Rolls of Parlt. IV. 57/1 In the shyre of Cambrigge. 1430Cov. Leet-bk. 129, xls. to the collectours of the shire in money and in Costes. 1473J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden) 8 Thei gadred alle the comons of the schyre. 1549Cheke Hurt Sedit. (1641) 32 How many suffer injurie, when one hundred of a Shiere is spoiled? 1598Stow Surv. Lond. 305 Then harde by the Barre is one other lane called Shyre lane, because it deuideth the Citie from the Shire. 1599Dekker Shoemakers Holiday i. (1610) B 1 b, Those companies Mustred in London, and the shires about. 1764Oxf. Sausage 41 The next we heard that in a neighb'ring Shire, That Day to Church he lead a blushing Bride. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 189 The cry of agricultural distress rose from every shire in the kingdom. 1855Hawthorne Eng. Note-bks. (1870) I. 279 Lancaster..with taller houses than in the middle shires of England. 1896A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad xxxvii, As through the wild green hills of Wyre The train ran, changing sky and shire.
Scotland.1529Stirling Burgh Rec. (1887) I. 37 Na flescher within burgh, na within the schier, that bringis ony flecht to the said burgh to sell [etc.]. 1570Satir. Poems Reform. xiii. 99 Ȝe wer ay callit for ȝour tyrannie Strypis of the Schyre. a1670Spalding Troub. Chas. I (Bannatyne Club) II. 247 The schires of Kincardin, Elgyne and Forres.
Ireland.c1535Finglas Breviat in W. Harris Hibernica (1757) 46 The Gentles of the Shires of Myeth and Dublyn. 1542Ir. Act 34 Hen. VIII, c. 1 (1621) 238 Forasmuch as the Shire of Methe is great and large in circuit... The said Sherife of the said Shire for the time being. 1600in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 458 The counties and shyers of the province. 1612Sir J. Davies Why Ireland, etc. 256 Next, in reducing the vnreformed partes of Vlster into seauen shires; namely Ardmagh, Monahan, Tirone, Coleraine, Deuegall [sic], Fermannagh and Cauan. 1626[Sir E. Cecil] Perrot's Govt. Irel. 41 The Counties thus made in Vlster, were these, Ardmagh, Monahan, Tyrone [etc.]... These circuites thus deuided and setled into Shieres, the Deputy..appointed..Iustices of the Peace.
b. Put for: The inhabitants of the shire.
a1122O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1010, Ne furðon nan scir nolde oðre ᵹelæstan æt nyxtan. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xi, You have more brains than half the shire.
†c. A shire-court. (Cf. shire-mote.) Obs.
a1225Ancr. R. 308 Hit nis nout ine Godes kurt ase hit is iðe schire. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11068 Ac sir willam ssire huld in a monenday. c1400Gamelyn 715 Gamelyn came redy to þe next shire. c1450Godstow Reg. 169 He made þys relese & quite clayme in þe shyre of wynchestur. 1461Paston Lett. II. 37, I wold a new dede and letter of atorne were mad owth,..and that the ded bere date nowh, and that it be selid at the next shire. 1502Arnolde Chron. P iij, [tr. Gt. Charter] No shire from hensforth shalbe holden in oure reame but from moneth to moneth.
†d. to be quit from shire and hundred: to be exempted from taxation levied by the shire and hundred. Obs.
1293Rolls of Parlt. I. 115/1 Sint liberi et quieti ab omni Scotto, Geldo et de..Tallag', Lestagiis, Stallagiis, Schiris, Hundr' Warda, Wardepeny, Hauerpeny, Hundredespeny. c1450Godstow Reg. 670 And [that their] fre tenauntis ought ther to be quyet fro shire and hundred.
†e. Proverb. (See hundred 5 c.) Obs.
f. A rural administrative district in some states of Australia. Freq. attrib.
1909Brierley & Irish Crown Lands Acts New South Wales (ed. 2) (Advt.), Ordinances for Municipalities or Shires. 1947K. Tennant Lost Haven iii. 58 A man with any push would form a progress association and devil the shire council about the roads. 1977Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Jan. 46/2 The town also has a shire community centre.
†4. A city or town with its liberties to which has been granted a jurisdiction independent of that of the historical shire in which it is situated. Obs.
Since the 16th c. the term has been superseded by county1 2 b. Cf. corporate county, corporate ppl. a. B. 4.
1433Rolls of Parlt. IV. 425/2 In every Citee or Burgh in this your seide Roialme..beyng a Shire incorporate. 1485in Cov. Leet Bk. 524 Henry by the grace of God Kyng of Englond and of Fraunce and lord of Irland to oure trusty and wel-beloued the Maire and Justices of our peas within the shire of oure Citie of Couentre..greting.
5. As the terminal element in names of counties (as Berkshire, Derbyshire) and of certain other districts (as Hallamshire, Bedlingtonshire, Islandshire, Norhamshire, Hexhamshire) which have from early times been regarded as separate unities. Pronounced |-ʃə(r)|; in dialects often |-ʃɪə(r)|.
a1122O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1064, Mid Snotingham scire & Deorbi scire & Lincolna scire. c1155Newminster Cartul. (Surtees) 45 Bellingtonesir. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 77 Bette þe Budul of Bokynghames schire. c1450Godstow Reg. 637 To here & to ende diuerse transgressions harmis greuis & excessis in wilton sher. 1463–4Rolls of Parlt. V. 503/1 The growyng of the Shires called Alderton Shire, and Richemond Shire, oonly except. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 261 The whole shire is expressly named Hanscyre. 1711Steele Spect. No. 2 ⁋1 The first of our Society is a Gentleman of Worcestershire. 1893–4Northumberld. Gloss. s.v., Norhamshire, Islandshire, and Bedlingtonshire, are detached portions of the patrimony of Saint Cuthbert.
6. the Shires.
a. A term applied to other parts of England by the inhabitants of East Anglia, Kent, Sussex, Essex, and Surrey; also gen. applied to those counties the names of which end in -shire. Also = shire counties (see sense 8 b below).
Usually pronounced |ʃɪəz|, being a re-stressed form of the unstressed ending |-ʃɪə(r)|.
1796Pegge Anonym. (1809) 160 The Inhabitants of Kent, to express a person's coming from a great distance..will say, he comes a great way off, out of the shires. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Sheres, pl., a general name for all the counties in England, but Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. 1865W. White East. Eng. II. 204 Which do ye like best, master. Essex or the sheres? 1909A. Morrison Green Ginger 154 ‘It do seem to me’, he said, ‘as you'd do better in the shires; I count you make a poor trade in Essex’. 1977Daily Tel. 14 Mar. 2/7 In the shires Labour are defending a rump of seven non-Metropolitan counties they still hold out of 39: Cleveland, Derbyshire, Durham, [etc.].
b. Fox-hunting. As the name of a hunting ‘country’: see quot. 1910.
1860G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. v. 51 ‘Excuse me, sir: take the liberty of asking whereabouts you generally hunt’. ‘Hunt?’ repeated the customer. ‘Oh! Leicestershire—Northamptonshire—all about there’... A cloud gathered on the foreman's brow. ‘The Shires!’ he rejoined, with a perplexed air; ‘that increases our difficulties very much indeed’. 1887Field 12 Nov. 731/2 The fleetest pack [of hounds] in all the Shires. 1910A. E. T. Watson in Encycl. Brit. XIII. 948/2 The ‘Shires’ is a recognized term, but is nevertheless somewhat vague. The three counties included in the expression are Leicestershire, Rutlandshire and Northamptonshire. Several packs which hunt within these limits are not supposed, however, to belong to the ‘Shires’, whereas a district of the Belvoir country is in Lincolnshire, and to hunt with the Belvoir is certainly understood to be hunting in the ‘Shires’.
7. Short for Shire horse.
1877W. Gilbey in Field 24 Feb. 225/1 A discussion arose as to the best agricultural stallion to select for use in the district—a ‘Clydesdale’ or a ‘Shire’. 1901Q. Rev. Jan. 7 The Shire, as a distinct breed was not in existence.
8. a. attrib. and Comb. as shire-administration, shire-system; (sense 6) shire-bred, shire-fattened adjs.; (sense 7) shire-breed, shire-class.
1874Stubbs Const. Hist. I. vi. 160 A uniform *shire-administration.
1881Daily News 24 Feb. 3/1 In the hope of stimulating the production of *shire-bred horses.
1877Field 17 Mar. 323/2 Good English mares of the ‘*shire’ breed.
1886P. Robinson Teetotum Trees 18 Our own *shire-fattened kine.
1874Stubbs Const. Hist. I. v. 117 The general institution of a *shire-system for all England.
b. Special comb.: shire-bishop (OE. and Hist.), the bishop of a shire; shire-borough (see sense 4); † shire-clerk (see quot. 1706); shire county, a non-metropolitan county of the U.K., as instituted by the local government reorganization of 1974; † shire-court = county-court 1; † shire-day, the day upon which a meeting of the shire was appointed to be held; shire-hall, † -house = county-hall, county 8 b; shire-jury Hist., the members of a shire-court; † shire-knight, = knight of the shire, knight n. 4 c; shire-member, a representative of a shire in Parliament; shire-oak, an oak tree marking the boundary of a shire or a meeting place for a shire-court; shire-reeve, etymologizing form of sheriff; shire-stone, a stone serving as a boundary-mark of a shire (also in three-shire-stone, four-shire-stone); shire-town, (a) the chief town of a shire, a county-town, see county1 8 b; also transf.; (b) U.S. = county seat s.v. county1 8 b; † shire-wyte, ? a tax paid to a Sheriff for holding a shire-court. Also shire-ground, Shire horse, shire-land, shireman, shire-moot, shirewick.
a1023Wulfstan xxxvi. (1883) 173 Bete þæt, swa se *scir⁓bisceop and eal scirwitan..deman. 1880W. H. Jones Dioc. Hist. Salisb. 51 We must therefore suppose that occasionally shire-bishops may have been appointed.
1898F. W. Maitland Township & Borough 10 One ancient *shire-borough, I mean Nottingham.
1495Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 15 §1 Shirefs Undershirefs *Shire Clerkis or any other officers. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Shire-Clerk, an Under-Sheriff; sometimes it is taken for a Clerk in the County-Court, or Deputy to the Under-Sheriff.
1972Times 21 Sept. 4/2 The AMC received no guidance whether metropolitan county councils would want to be grouped with ‘*shire’ counties or with district councils. 1977Daily Tel. 25 Apr. 6/8 Britain's great conurbations and the shire counties are preparing for a..tussle.
1376Rolls of Parlt. II. 348/2 Une novele Court appelle *Shire-court a Arundell. 1503–4Act 19 Hen. VII, c. 24 The Shyre Courte for that Shyre shalbe holden & kepte one tyme at Chichestre aforseid, and the next tyme at the borowe of Lewes. 1542–3Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 26 §58 The Countie or Shyre Courte of the Countie of Radnor.
1482Caxton Policron. viii. xxi. in Higden (Rolls) VIII. 565 Also at Bedford on a *shyreday were eyghten men murthred withoute stroke by fallynge doune of a steyr.
1796E. Inchbald Nature & Art xl. (1820) 135 The prisoners are demanded at the *shire-hall. 1881Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 30 Shire Hall Keeper.
1759B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. II. 53 The Guild-hall, the Wool⁓hall, and the *Shire-house.
1822Edin. Rev. XXXVI. 330 The *Shire-jury was considered as constituting the ‘County’ or County Court.
1399Langl. Rich. Redeles iv. 32 And whanne it drowe to þe day of þe dede-doynge, Þat souereynes were semblid and þe *schire-knyȝtis,..þey begynne to declare Þe cause of her comynge.
1910W. L. Mathieson Awak. Scot. i. 8 *Shire members and burgh members had united to form a House of Commons.
1778Eng. Gazetteer (ed. 2) s.v. Worksop, Certain oaks, called *Shire-Oaks. 1879Green Readings Eng. Hist. xxiii. 115 During the last half-hour the suiters had been gathering round the shire-oak.
14..Langland's P. Pl. C. iv. 78 Boþe *shire-reues and sergauntes. 1570–6Lambarde Peramb. Kent 350 Our Magistrat nowe called a Sherif, or (to speake more truely, Shyrereue). 1765Blackstone Comm. Introd. §4 I. 112 The sheriff, shrieve, or shire-reeve. 1863H. Cox Instit. iii. ix. 726 These reeves received in counties the appellation of shire-reeves.
1536in Laing Charters (1899) 108 Fra the said croce lineallie east..to the *schearstane; fra the scheirsteane lineallie eist [etc.]. 1677Plot Oxfordsh. Map, Four shire stone..three shire stones. 1778Eng. Gazetteer (ed. 2) s.v. Morton in the Marsh, About one mile from hence, are the 4 shire-stones. 1825Gentl. Mag. June 516 Upon Wreynose Hill are placed the Shire-stones.
1459Rolls of Parlt. V. 368/1 Make open Proclamation in the *Shire Toune of the same Shire or Shires. 1526Tindale Luke ii. 3 Every man went in to his awne shyre toune, there to be taxed. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 396 Then Ouse saluteth Buckingham the Shire Towne. 1648New Hampshire Provincial & State Papers (1867) I. 189 The Court doth think fitt that the *shire town of Norfolke be referred to further consideration. 1708J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. i. i. iii. 10 The Shire-Town is Derby. 1717S. Sewall Diary 13 Jan. (1882) III. 132 Cambridge is the Shire-Town for Middlesex. 1857Perley Hand-bk. N. Brunswick 55 The shire town is Richibucto. 1881Century Mag. Dec. 251/1 It was the central town in the county, and yet not the shire-town. 1969Bangor (Maine) Daily News 10 July 1/5 (caption) This particular sign in Whiting..has omitted an ‘a’ from the shiretown of Washington County.
1425in Kennett Par. Antiq. (1695) 573 Et in solutis pro quadam pensione vocata *Schire⁓wyte annuatim iv. sol.
▪ II. shire, a. Obs. exc. dial.|ʃaɪə(r)|
Forms: 1 scír, 3 scir, sir, 3–4 shir, 3–5 schir, 4 scire, scirre, schirre, (schyire), 4–5 schyr, 4–6 schire, schyre, 4–8 shyre, 4–9 shire.
[Com. Teut.: OE. scír = OFris. skîre, OS. skîr, skîri (MLG. schîre; hence MHG. schîre, schîr, mod.G. schier), ON. skír-r clear, bright, pure (Sw. skir), skýrir manifest, Goth. skeir-s clear:—OTeut. *skīro-, *skīrjo-, f. root *skī̆- to shine: see shine v. (Related by ablaut to sheer a. See also skire, skere adjs.)]
A. adj.
†1. Bright, shining. Obs.
In OE. also fig. illustrious, noble. In ME. allit. verse sometimes a vague epithet of praise (= beautiful, fine, ‘sheen’).
Beowulf 979 Ðær abidan sceal maᵹa mane fah miclan domes, hu him scir metod scrifan wille. a1000Boeth. Metr. xxx. 9 Þeah hio [the sun] sie scir & beorht. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3848 Longe abuten munt seyr folȝede hem ðat skie scir. a1300Havelok 588 She saw þer-inne a lith ful shir. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 317 Þe blod schot for scham in-to his shyre face & lere. a1400–50Wars Alex. 2454 Schalkis scott in-to shipis all in shire mailes. c1400Destr. Troy 2373 In a shadow of shene tres & of shyre floures. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 537 To se that his schire weid be sicker of assay.
†2. Of liquids, crystal, etc.: Clear, translucent.
a900Cynewulf Christ 1282 Swa þæt scire glæs þæt mon yþæst mæᵹ eall þurh-wlitan. c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 163/33 Limpidus, scir. a1300Cursor M. 9936 Midward þe heist ture..springes of scire water o welle. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 6934 Als fyssches lyfes in water schyre. a1400Stockh. Med. MS. i. 119 in Anglia XVIII. 298 Hony, good & schyre. c1440Promp. Parv. 447/1 Schyre, as water and oþer lycure, perspicuus, clarus. a1450Ratis Raving i. 1492 Scho berys with hire lycor schyr That slokins syne as vatter fyre. 1513Douglas æneis iii. viii. 48 The sesonable air pipis vp fair and schire. 1776D. Herd Sc. Songs (ed. 2) II. Gloss. s.v., We call..clear liquor shire.
†3. Pure, unmixed. Obs.
Beowulf 496 Þeᵹn..se þe on handa bær hroden ealowæᵹe, scencte scir wered. c888ælfred Boeth. xv, Nalles scir win hi ne druncan. c1200Ormin 15383 Forr siþþen iss all þeȝȝre spell Shir atter & shir galle Till alle þa þatt herrcnenn itt. a1340Hampole Cant. Psalter 516 Þat þa drynke þe shyrest blode of grape [sanguinem uvae meracissimum]. a1400–50Wars Alex. 113 He shapis him of shire wax litill schipis many.
†4. Morally or spiritually clean; pure. Obs.
a1225Ancr. R. 1 Þeos riwle is cherite of schir heorte & cleane inwit. Ibid. 246 O muchel is..þe mihte of schir & of clene bone. c1250Gen. & Ex. 518 Metodius, ali martyr, Adde in his herte sigh[ð]e sir. a1300Cursor M. 26200 Scrift sal mak þi saul scirre. a1400Rel. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. 56 When Goddis seruandes hase depely thoghte with schire herte on Gode.
5. Complete, perfect, utter; = sheer a. 8. Also (with a negative), mere, bare.
a1225Leg. Kath. 1286 Nere hit schendlac inoh, & schir scheome, to alle þæt ȝelpeð of lare? c1250Gen. & Ex. 3580 He..dede ðat claf melten in fir, And stired it al to dust sir. 1513Douglas æneis viii. Prol. 78 This cuntre is full of Caynis kyne, And sic schyr schrewis. c1520Skelton E. Rummyng 466 They be wretchockes thou hast brought, They are shyre shakyng nought! 1540Palsgr. Acolastus ii. iii. L j, I wyll not gyue the sole .i. pure or shyre hope, but the thing. 1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 69 As if the outside of the earth were a shire flat or level. 1710Ruddiman Gloss. Douglas' æneis s.v. Schire, Scot. we say, a skire fool, a shire knave, i.e. purus putus nebulo. c1730Ramsay Grub Street nae Satire 5 He's naething but a shire daft lick. 1836M. Mackintosh Cottager's Daughter 59 He was a shire and worthless smaik.
b. (See quot.)
1825Jamieson Suppl., Shire, Shyre, adj. Used in the sense of strait, or S. scrimp; as, shire measure, that sort of measurement which allows not a hair-breadth beyond what mere justice demands, Teviotdale.
6. Thin; tenuous, not dense; sparse, scanty. Of beer: Weak, ‘small’.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxxxi. (1495) 940 The more sadde a body is the more heuy it is; and the more shyre and thynne the more lyght it is founde. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxii. 101 Þe men of þat land has schyre [Cotton text (1839) 207 thynne] berdes with few hares in þam. 1513Douglas æneis iv. v. 188 He vanist far away..in the schyre air [in tenuem..auram]. 1530Palsgr. 323/2 Shyre nat thycke, delie. 1547Salesbury Dict. Eng. & Welsh, Teneu, Thynne, shyre. 1599A. Hume Hymnes iv. 14 My haires are schyre and gray. 1721Ramsay To Earl Dalhousie 34 He had rather live on cakes, And shyrest swats. 1776D. Herd Sc. Songs (ed. 2) II. Gloss. s.v., We call thin cloth..shire. 1879G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Shire, thin; scanty: said of crops.
▪ III. † shire, v.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 scíran, scýran, 3 sciren, schire, shire, sire.
[OE. scíran = MLG., mod.LG. schiren to make clear, clarify (whence G. dial. schieren), ON. skíra to purify, clear (from a charge), Goth. gaskeirjan to interpret, f. OTeut. *skīro-: see shire a.]
1. trans. To declare, make known; to tell, utter.
Beowulf 1939 Þæt hit sceadenmæl scyran moste, cwealmbealu cyðan. c897ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxviii. 198 Ac ᵹif hie ðonne eallunga forberan ne mæᵹen..ðæt hie hit ne sciren. c1205Lay. 16822 Nes þer nan swa hæh mon þat durste word sciren. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2036 Ðe wite is hise, ðe right is hire, God al-miȝtin ðe soðe shire. [a1250Owl & Night. 1532 Wan he comeþ ham eft to his wiue, ne dar heo noȝt a word i-schire.]
2. To enlighten, purify (the mind or heart).
a1225Ancr. R. 384 Luue, þet schireð & brihteð þe heorte. c1250Gen. & Ex. 327 For is fruit sired mannes mood, To witen boðen iwel and good.
▪ IV. shire, v.2|ʃaɪər|
[f. shire n.]
trans. To divide (a country) into shires.
1810W. Davies Agric. N. Wales i. 2 It [North Wales] was shired by Henry the Eighth into six counties. 1867Cal. St. Papers, Irel. 1574–85, 170 The Brenny and Annaly shired. 1885R. Bagwell Irel. under Tudors I. 60 Ulster and Connaught were not shired. 1904Edin. Rev. July 215 When..he [Davies] effected the final shiring of Ulster.
▪ V. † shire, adv. Obs.
[OE. scíre, f. shire a.]
1. Brightly; clearly.
a1000Andreas 835 Oð þæt dryhten forlet dæᵹcandelle scire scinan. a1300Havelok 916 [Ich kan] kindlen ful wel a fyr, And maken it to brennan shir. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 956 Hir brest & hir bryȝt þrote bare displayed, Schon schyrer þen snawe. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 610 The sone in the sky wes schynyng so schir. 1513Douglas æneis ii. v. 14 Quhen the taknyng or the bail of fire Rais fro the kingis schip, wpbirnyng schire.
2. With main force, mightily; sheer or straight down.
a900Cynewulf Christ 1141 Scire burstan muras and stanas. c1250Gen. & Ex. 3045 O morȝen, al swilc time al sir, Thunder, and hail, and leuenes fir, Cam wel vnghere. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 506 Schyre schedez þe rayn in schowrez ful warme. 1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 22 Kemmit was thair cleir hair, and curiouslie sched Attour thair schulderis doun schyre, schyning full bricht.
▪ VI. shire
obs. form of sire n. |