shire

n. territorial administrative division, county (British)

A shire is an administrative area of Great Britain and Australia. The first shires were created by the Anglo-Saxons in what is now central and southern England. Shires were controlled by a royal official known as a "shire reeve" or sheriff. Historically shires were sub-divided into hundreds or wapentakes although other less common sub-divisions existed. In modern English usage shires are sub-divided into districts.
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Noun
1. a former administrative district of England; equivalent to a county
(hypernym) administrative district, administrative division, territorial division
(part-meronym) county town, shire town
(classification) United Kingdom, UK, Great Britain, GB, Britain, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
2. British breed of large heavy draft horse
(synonym) shire horse
(hypernym) draft horse, draught horse, dray horse

(n.)
A portion of Great Britain originally under the supervision of an earl; a territorial division, usually identical with a county, but sometimes limited to a smaller district; as, Wiltshire, Yorkshire, Richmondshire, Hallamshire.
  

(n.)
A division of a State, embracing several contiguous townships; a county.
  

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