shire

/ʃaɪə/

//ʃaɪə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"shire" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shire” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,700. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,700
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An administrative area or district between about the 5th to the 11th century, subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; also, a present-day area cor...

Corpus desk

Index EN-shire · shire · English

shire · rank #15,700 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,700
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Sherwood

Nearest frequency peer: Sherwood (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “shire”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “shire” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

shire vs sir
60% similar
shire vs sie
60% similar
shire vs sure
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for shire
PropertyValue
Headwordshire
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ʃaɪə/
Letters5
Frequency rank#15,700
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “shire”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).shirelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Sherwood” (#15,699), “sinks” (#15,701), “Sheridan” (#15,698). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shire” is #15,700. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around shire (IPA /ʃaɪə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,700 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for shire, with forms such as "hsire", "shhire", and "shier". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sir", "sie", "sure", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English schire (“region, shire, county”) [and other forms], from Old English sċīr (“administrative region under an alderman and sheriff, shire; district under a governor or official; status of an official, office”) [and other… The correct English form is shire, spelled S-H-I-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An administrative area or district between about the 5th to the 11th century, subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; also, a present-day area corresponding to such a historical district; a county; especially (England), a county having a name ending in -shire.
  2. 2
    The people living in a shire (noun sense 1.1) considered collectively.
  3. 3
    The general area in which a person comes from or lives.
  4. 4
    An administrative area or district in other countries.
  5. 5
    An administrative area or district in other countries.
  6. 6
    Ellipsis of shire horse (“a draught horse of a tall British breed, usually bay, black, or grey”).
  7. 7
    A district or province governed by a person; specifically (Christianity), the province of an archbishop, the see of a bishop, etc.
  8. 8
    A region; also, a country.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how shire appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Yorkshire is the largest shire in England.
  2. I thanke his grace he hath appointed him, / Chiefe colonell of all thoſe companies / Muſtred in London, and the ſhires about, / To ſerue his highneſſe in thoſe warres of France: […]

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English schire (“region, shire, county”) [and other forms], from Old English sċīr (“administrative region under an alderman and sheriff, shire; district under a governor or official; status of an official, office”) [and other forms], from Proto-West Germanic *skīru (“district; status of an official, office”); further etymology uncertain, possibly related to Latin cūra (“care, concern; administration, charge, management; command, office”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- (“to heed; to see”). The verb is derived from the noun.

This word in other languages

condado(Español)comté(Français)Grafschaft(Deutsch)condado(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hsire
  • shhire
  • shier
  • shirre
  • shrie
  • sihre
  • sshire

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shire - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hsire2shhire1shier2shirre1shrie2sihre2sshire1
Edit distance from "shire"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "shire"?
"shire" is spelled S-H-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃaɪə/.
What does "shire" mean?
As a noun, "shire" means: An administrative area or district between about the 5th to the 11th century, subdivided into hundreds or wapentakes and jointly governed by an ealdorman and a sheriff; also, a present-day area cor...
What words are commonly confused with "shire"?
"shire" is commonly confused with "sir", "sie", "sure". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "shire"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shire" is /ʃaɪə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "shire"?
The noun is derived from Middle English schire (“region, shire, county”) [and other forms], from Old English sċīr (“administrative region under an alderman and sheriff, shire; district under a governor or official; status of an official, office”) ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "shire", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sinks#15,701rodeo#15,696Ramos#15,687swung#15,714

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

tides7 variantspollen7 variantsmanned7 variantsleash7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list