SHERIFF DEFINITIONS - 8 definitions found
sheriff n 1: the principal law-enforcement officer in a county Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) sheriff noun Etymology: Middle English shirreve, from Old English scīrgerēfa, from scīr shire + gerēfa reeve — more at shire, reeve Date: before 12th century an important official of a shire or county charged primarily with judicial duties (as executing the processes and orders of courts and judges) • sheriffdom noun Oxford English Reference Dictionary
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner\'s English Dictionary sheriff (sheriffs) 1. In the United States, a sheriff is a person who is elected to make sure that the law is obeyed in a particular county. ...the local sheriff. N-COUNT; N-TITLE 2. In Scotland, a sheriff is a legal officer whose chief duty is to act as judge in a Sheriff Court. These courts deal with all but the most serious crimes and with most civil actions. ...the presiding judge, Sheriff John Mowatt. N-COUNT; N-TITLE 3. In England and Wales, the Sheriff of a city or county is a person who is elected or appointed to carry out mainly ceremonial duties. ...the Sheriff of Oxford. N-COUNT: usu N of n The Nuttall Encyclopaedia (1907) Sheriff in England the chief officer of the Crown in every county, appointed annually, and intrusted with the execution of the laws and the maintenance of peace and order, with power to summon the posse commitatus. The office originated in Anglo-Saxon times, when it exercised wide judicial functions which have been gradually curtailed, and such duties as remain—the execution of writs, enforcement of legal decisions, &c., are mostly delegated to an under-sheriff (usually a lawyer) and bound-bailiffs, while the sheriff himself, generally a person of wealth (the office being unsalaried and compulsory, but not necessarily for more than one year) discharges merely honorary duties. In Scotland the sheriff, or sheriff-depute as he is called, is the chief judge of the county, and has under him one or more sheriffs-substitute, upon whom devolves the larger portion of the important and multifarious duties of his office. In America the sheriff is the chief administrative officer of the county, but exercises no judicial functions at all. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Sheriff \Sher"iff\, n. [OE. shereve, AS. sc[=i]r-ger?fa; sc[=i]r a shire + ger?fa a reeve. See Shire, and Reeve, and cf. Shrievalty.] The chief officer of a shire or county, to whom is intrusted the execution of the laws, the serving of judicial writs and processes, and the preservation of the peace. Note: In England, sheriffs are appointed by the king. In the United States, sheriffs are elected by the legislature or by the citizens, or appointed and commissioned by the executive of the State. The office of sheriff in England is judicial and ministerial. In the United States, it is mainly ministerial. The sheriff, by himself or his deputies, executes civil and criminal process throughout the county, has charge of the jail and prisoners, attends courts, and keeps the peace. His judicial authority is generally confined to ascertaining damages on writs of inquiry and the like. Sheriff, in Scotland, called sheriff depute, is properly a judge, having also certain ministerial powers. Sheriff clerk is the clerk of the Sheriff's Court in Scotland. Sheriff's Court in London is a tribunal having cognizance of certain personal actions in that city. --Wharton, Tomlins. Erskine. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia SHERIFF sher'-if (Aramaic tiphtaye' "judicial," "a lawyer," "a sheriff" (Da 3:2 f]): Probably a "lawyer" or "jurist" whose business it was to decide points of law. At best, however, the translation "sheriff" is but a conjecture. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 47 Moby Thesaurus words for "sheriff": G-man, MP, bailiff, beadle, beagle, bound bailiff, captain, catchpole, chief of police, commissioner, constable, deputy, deputy sheriff, detective, fed, federal, flic, gendarme, government man, inspector, lictor, lieutenant, mace-bearer, marshal, mounted policeman, narc, officer, patrolman, peace officer, police captain, police commissioner, police constable, police inspector, police matron, police officer, police sergeant, policeman, policewoman, portreeve, reeve, roundsman, sergeant, sergeant at arms, superintendent, tipstaff, tipstaves, trooper |
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