bailiwick

English

WOTD – 20 February 2008

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• enPR: bā'lĭ-wĭk, IPA^(key): /ˈbeɪ.lɪ.wɪk/

• 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.

   • 2020 September 28, Alex McLevy, “Marilynne Robinson finds transcendence in the stunning, soul-searching Jack”, in The A.V. Club‎^[1]:

     Jack is full of these insights, thoughtful turns of phrase from a character whose perpetual struggle between wastrel and righteous is all too familiar a bailiwick for the universal insecurities of the human condition.

Synonyms

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

Related terms

• bailie
• bailiff

Translations

precincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction

• Dutch: meierij (nl) f, baljuwschap n
• French: bailliage (fr) m
• German: Vogtei (de)
• Icelandic: fógetaumdæmi n
• Italian: bailiato m
• Manx: bayleeaght f, bayleeys m
• Polish: baliwat (pl)
• Russian: бейливик m (bejlivik)
• Spanish: bailía f
• Swedish: verksamhetsområde (sv) n

area or subject of authority or involvement

• Dutch: gezag (nl) n,domein (nl) n, competentie (nl) f
• French: bailliage (fr) m, compétence (fr), autorité (fr)
• Icelandic: (area of knowledge) þekkingarsvið n, (occupational area) starfssvið n, (field of interest) áhugasvið n, (field of competence) valdsvið n
• Serbo-Croatian: nadležnost (sh) f
• Spanish: bailía f

References

• “bailiwick”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.