bailiwick

noun

bai·li·wick | \ˈbā-li-ˌwik,

-lē-\

Definition of bailiwick

1 law enforcement : the office or jurisdiction of a bailiff (see bailiff sense 1a)

2 : the sphere in which one has superior knowledge or authority : a special domain (see domain sense 4) … concerns at the spy agency that the Pentagon is intruding into its traditional bailiwick.— Scott Shane and Mark Mazzetti

Synonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about bailiwick

Keep scrolling for more

Did You Know?

The first half of the word bailiwick comes from the Middle English word for "bailiff," in this case a term referring to a sheriff or chief officer of a town in medieval England, not the officer who assists today in U.S. courtrooms. Bailiff derives via Anglo-French from the Latin bajulare, meaning "to carry a burden." The second half of "bailiwick" comes from "wik," a Middle English word for "dwelling place" or "village," which ultimately derived from the Latin vicus, meaning "village." (This root also gave us "-wich" and "-wick," suffixes used in place names like Norwich and Warwick.) Although "bailiwick" dates from the 15th century, the "special domain" sense did not begin to appear in English until the middle of the 19th century.

Examples of bailiwick in a Sentence

questions about organization of the fund drive are my bailiwick

Recent Examples on the Web

This gets into the business of insurance products, and that is the bailiwick of agents and brokers. — Amy Goldstein, Washington Post, "Administration slashes grants to help Americans get Affordable Care Act coverage," 10 July 2018 Fortunately for Henderson, a large portion of the account was directed to the corporate-and-financial team, which was outside Bell’s bailiwick. — Ed Caesar, The New Yorker, "The Reputation-Laundering Firm That Ruined Its Own Reputation," 25 May 2018 In the latest of several excursions outside his ministerial bailiwick, Mr Salvini, who is also a deputy prime minister and leader of the hard-right Northern League, threatened to ban ships carrying Cambodian rice from docking in Italian ports. — The Economist, "How Matteo Salvini is dominating Italian politics," 21 June 2018 In theory, orchestrating an action plan after this report would be right in the cyber czar’s bailiwick. — Derek Hawkins, Washington Post, "The Cybersecurity 202: White House cybersecurity report shows federal agencies still struggling to get secure," 30 May 2018 Each has his main bailiwick: Erik focuses more on e-commerce, Blake on Nordstrom Rack and tech, and Pete on merchandising and brand partnerships. — Phil Wahba, Fortune, "Why Nordstrom Is Betting on High-Touch Tech," 25 May 2018 Note the shift of venue to Symphony Center from the series’ regular bailiwick, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. — John Von Rhein, chicagotribune.com, "Honoring Pierre Boulez, the titan of modernism who opened the ears of Chicagoans to the music of our time," 15 May 2018 Their bailiwick now includes how Muslims should act on social media. — Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post, "Buying ‘likes’ on Facebook is ‘immoral’, Egypt’s top Muslim cleric declares," 17 Apr. 2018 The Tide's previous defensive coordinators had expertise coaching the secondary, which just so happens to be Saban's bailiwick, too. — Rainer Sabin, AL.com, "How Tosh Lupoi is faring as Alabama's defensive coordinator," 5 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bailiwick.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about bailiwick

Listen to Our Podcast about bailiwick

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Dictionary Entries near bailiwick

Statistics for bailiwick

Last Updated

17 Sep 2018

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for bailiwick

The first known use of bailiwick was in the 15th century

See more words from the same century

Keep scrolling for more

Comments on bailiwick

What made you want to look up bailiwick? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

WORD OF THE DAY

rebuff

to reject or criticize sharply

Test Your Vocabulary

Words from Greek and Roman Mythology Quiz

Boreal comes from the name of the ancient Greek god of which wind?

How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!

TAKE THE QUIZ

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games