eyre

¹

[air]

noun

Old English Law.

1. a circuit made by an itinerant judge justice in eyre in medieval England.

2. a county court held by a justice in eyre.

Eyre

²

[air]

noun

1. Lake, a shallow salt lake in S South Australia. 3,430 sq. mi. (8,885 sq. km).

Eyre

¹

/ ɛə /

noun

1. Edward John. 1815–1901, British explorer and colonial administrator. He was governor of Jamaica (1864–66) until his authorization of 400 executions to suppress an uprising led to his recall

2. Sir Richard. born 1943, British theatre director: director of the Royal National Theatre (1988–97)

eyre

²

/ ɛə /

noun

1. any of the circuit courts held in each shire from 1176 until the late 13th century

2. the justices travelling on circuit and presiding over such courts

Eyre

³

/ ɛə /

noun

1. a shallow salt lake or salt flat in NE central South Australia, about 11 m (35 ft) below sea level, divided into two areas (North and South); it usually contains little or no water. Maximum area: 9600 sq km (3700 sq miles)

Word History and Origins

Origin of eyre¹

1250–1300; Middle English eyre < Anglo-French; Old French erre, derivative of errer to journey; err

Word History and Origins

Origin of eyre¹

C13: from Old French erre journey, from errer to travel, from Latin errāre to wander

Origin of eyre²

C19: named after Edward John Eyre (1815–1901), British explorer and colonial administrator

Example Sentences

Upon its publication in 1857, two years after the death of the author of “Jane Eyre,” Gaskell received angry letters, threats of libel lawsuits and outraged responses from Brontë’s father and her widower.

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In another act of rebellion, she chooses some words from Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre”—another of Thomas’s favorites—that she asks to have tattooed on her torso: “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.”

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Like Jane Eyre, the more unsustained they are, the more they respect themselves.

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When he took on the role of King Lear in his 80s, in Sir Richard Eyre's 2018 film, Lear's words to his daughter Cordelia struck a painful chord.

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In a series of firsts for two of the great titans of British theatre, the Oscar-winning actor and director will play Prospero in The Tempest for the first time, at Stratford-upon-Avon's Royal Shakespeare Theatre in the Spring of 2026, directed for the first time by Sir Richard Eyre.

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