sheriff

Alternative forms

• sherriff, shrieve (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English shirreve, from Old English sċīrġerēfa, corresponding to shire +‎ reeve. There is no etymological connection to Sharif (شَرِيف (šarīf)), an Arabic title of honour that has cognates in other languages including Hindi, Urdu, Portuguese, etc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃɛɹɪf/, /ˈʃɛɹəf/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛɹɪf, -ɛɹəf

Noun

sheriff (plural sheriffs)

1. (British, except Scotland) (High Sheriff) An official of a shire or county office, responsible for carrying out court orders, law enforcement and other duties.
2. (Scotland) A judge in the sheriff court, the court of a county or sheriffdom.
3. (US) A government official, usually responsible for law enforcement in their county and for administration of the county jail, sometimes an officer of the court, usually elected.

Verb

sheriff (third-person singular simple present sheriffs, present participle sheriffing, simple past and past participle sheriffed)

1. (transitive) To carry out the duties of a sheriff. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

See also

• hatti-sherif (etymologically unrelated)

Anagrams

• Shiffer

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English sheriff.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃeɾif/ [ˈʃe.ɾif]
• Rhymes: -eɾif
• Syllabification: she‧riff

Noun

sheriff m (plural sheriffs)

1. sheriff (all senses)

   Synonym: alguacil

Further reading

• “sheriff”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10