bailiwick

WOTD – 20 February 2008    

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From bailie (“bailiff”) and wick (“dwelling”), from Old English wīc.

Pronunciation

• enPR: bā'lĭ-wĭk, IPA: /ˈbeɪ.lɪ.wɪk/, X-SAMPA: /"beIlIwIk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

bailiwick (plural bailiwicks)

1. the district within which a bailie or bailiff has jurisdiction.

   The Bailiwick of Jersey.

2. a person's concern or sphere of operations, their area of skill or authority.
   • 1961, Eleanor Roosevelt, The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt:

     I established the fairly well-understood pattern that affairs of state were not in my bailiwick.

Synonyms

• (area or subject of authority or involvement): domain, department, jurisdiction, sphere, territory, turf.

Related terms

• bailie
• bailiff

Translations

precincts within a bailiff has jurisdiction

• Dutch: meierij (nl) f
• French: bailliage (fr) m
• German: vogtei (de)
• Icelandic: fógetaumdæmi (is) n
• Italian: bailiato (it) m

• Manx: bayleeaght (gv) f, bayleeys (gv) m
• Polish: baliwat (pl)
• Russian: бейливик (ru) (bejlivik) m 
• Spanish: bailía (es) f
• Swedish: verksamhetsområde (sv) n

area or subject of authority or involvement

• French: bailliage (fr) m, compétence (fr), autorité (fr)
• Icelandic: (area of knowledge) þekkingarsvið (is) n, (occupational area) starfssvið (is) n, (field of interest) áhugasvið (is) n, (field of competence) valdsvið (is) n

• Serbo-Croatian: nadležnost (sh) f
• Spanish: bailía (es) f

References

• bailiwick in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913