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A shire is a traditional term for a division of land, found in the United Kingdom and Australia. The word derives from the Old English ''scir'', itself a derivative of the Proto-Germanic ''skizo'' (cf. Old High German ''scira''), meaning care or official charge.〔Online Etymology Dictionary, entry "Shire". Retrieved 15 October 2011.〕 In Britain, "shire" is the original term for what is usually known now as a ''county''; the word ''county'' having been introduced at the Norman Conquest of England. The two are nearly synonymous. Although in modern British usage counties are referred to as "shires" mainly in poetic contexts, terms such as Shire Hall remain common. Shire also remains a common part of many county names. In some rural parts of Australia, a shire is a local government area; however, in Australia it is not synonymous with a "county", which is a lands administrative division. Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland and in the far northeast of England, the word is pronounced . As a suffix in an English or Welsh place name, it is in most regions pronounced , or sometimes . (In south-east England the is dropped in accordance with normal regional phonology, so that (for instance) "Berkshire" becomes .) ==Origins== The system was first used in Wessex from the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement, and spread to most of the rest of England in the tenth century, along with West Saxon political control. In Domesday (1086) the city of York was divided into shires.〔Gareth Dean, ''Medieval York'' 2008:21.〕 The first shires of Scotland were created in English-settled areas such as Lothian and the Borders, in the ninth century. King David I more consistently created shires and appointed sheriffs across lowland ''shores'' of Scotland. The shire in early days was governed by an ''Ealdorman'' and in the later Anglo-Saxon period by royal official known as a "shire reeve" or sheriff. The shires were divided into hundreds or wapentakes, although other less common sub-divisions existed. An alternative name for a shire was a "sheriffdom" until sheriff court reforms separated the two concepts. In Scotland the word "county" was not adopted for the shires. Although "county" appears in some texts, "shire" was the normal name until counties for statutory purposes were created in the nineteenth century. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「shire」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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