sheriff
pronunciation
How to pronounce sheriff in British English:
UK [ˈʃerɪf]
How to pronounce sheriff in American English:
US [ˈʃɛrɪf]
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- Noun:
- the principal law-enforcement officer in a county
Word Origin
- sheriff
- sheriff: [OE] A sheriff is etymologically a ‘shirereeve’ – that is, a ‘county official’. The term was compounded in the Old English period from scīr, ancestor of modern English shire, and gerēfa ‘local official’, a word based on *rōf ‘assembly’ which survives as the historical term reeve. It was used for the ‘monarch’s representative in a county’.=> reeve, shire
- sheriff (n.)
- late Old English scirgerefa "representative of royal authority in a shire," from scir (see shire) + gerefa "chief, official, reeve" (see reeve). As an American county official, attested from 1660s; sheriff's sale first recorded 1798. Sheriff's tooth (late 14c.) was a common name for the annual tax levied to pay for the sheriff's victuals during court sessions.
Example
- 1. An orange county sheriff 's deputy handcuffs prisoners .
- 2. Plus , he enjoys the excitement of being a sheriff .
- 3. As new york 's attorney-general , he was called " the sheriff of wall street " .
- 4. At last the sheriff pulled her out of the back end of the bronco and carried her to the waiting ambulance .
- 5. Just last week , there was another manhunt in the desert for illegal immigrants who had shot a sheriff 's deputy .