sheriff

/ˈʃɛɹɪf/

sheriff

English Noun Top 1,599

American (Lessac) (medium)

Female 0.7s

American (Amy) (medium)

Female 0.9s

American (Ryan) (medium)

Male 0.4s

Definition

(High Sheriff) An official of a shire or county office, responsible for carrying out court orders, law enforcement and other duties.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English shirreve, in turn inherited from Old English sċīrġerēfa, corresponding to shire + reeve. There is no etymological connection to Sharif (Arabic شَرِيف (šarīf)), an Arabic title of honour with cognates in other languages, including Persian, Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.