bailiwick

bai·li·wick

noun \ˈbā-li-ˌwik, -lē-\

Definition of BAILIWICK

1

: the office or jurisdiction of a bailiff

2

: a special domain

Examples of BAILIWICK

1. <questions about organization of the fund drive are my bailiwick>

Origin of BAILIWICK

Middle English baillifwik, from baillif + wik dwelling place, village, from Old English wīc, from Latin vicus village — more at vicinity

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to BAILIWICK

Synonyms: area, arena, field, barony, business, circle, demesne, department, discipline, domain, element, fief, fiefdom, firmament, front, game, kingdom, line, precinct, province, realm, specialty, sphere, terrain, walk

Related Words: frontier; study, subject; territory, turf; occupation, profession, pursuit, racket, vocation; ambit, amplitude, breadth, compass, confine, dimension(s), extent, ken, reach, scope, sweep, width; subfield, subspecialty

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Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

Rhymes with BAILIWICK

biopic, Bolshevik, bone to pick, call in sick, candlestick, candlewick, cattle tick, cherry-pick, corner kick, Dominic, do the trick, double-quick, EBCDIC, fiddlestick, fingerpick, flutter kick, hemistich, heretic, lunatic, Menshevik, meterstick, needlestick, onside kick, overtrick, point-and-click, politic, politick, polyptych, rhythm stick, scissors kick, shooting stick, singlestick, swagger stick, swizzle stick, taperstick, turn the trick, undertrick, walking stick, Watson-Crick