SHIRE, noun In England, a division of territory, otherwise called a county. The shire was originally a division of the kingdom under the jurisdiction of an earl or count, whose authority was entrusted to the sherif. [shire-reeve.] On this officer the goverment ultimately devolved. In the United States, the corresponding division of a state is called a county, but we retain shire in the in the compound half-shire; as when the county court is held in two towns in the same county alternately, we call one of the divisions a half-shire.

In some states, shire as the constituent part of the name of a county, as Berkshire, Hampshire, in Massachusetts. These being the names established by law, we cannot say, the county of Berkshire, and we cannot with propriety say, the caounty of Berks, for there is no county in Massa chusetts thus named.