bailiwick
[ bey-luh-wik ]
/ ˈbeɪ ləˌwɪk /
noun
the district within which a bailie or bailiff has jurisdiction.
a person's area of skill, knowledge, authority, or work: to confine suggestions to one's own bailiwick.
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
bailey, bailey bridge, bailey, liberty hyde, bailie, bailiff, bailiwick, baillie, bailment, bailor, bailout, bailsman
SYNONYMS FOR bailiwick
Related formssub·bail·i·wick, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for bailiwick
British Dictionary definitions for bailiwick
bailiwick
/ (ˈbeɪlɪwɪk) /
noun
law the area over which a bailiff has jurisdiction
a person's special field of interest, authority, or skill
Word Origin for bailiwick
C15: from baili(e) + wick ²
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for bailiwick
bailiwick
"district of a bailiff," early 15c., baillifwik, from bailiff (q.v.) + Middle English form of Old English wic "village" (see wick (n.2)). Figurative sense of "one's natural or proper sphere" is first recorded 1843.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper