WORD OF THE DAY: BAILIWICK

BAILIWICK

noun | BAY-lih-wik

What It Means

Bailiwick refers to the domain or sphere in which someone has superior knowledge or authority.

// Fundraising events are his bailiwick.

See the entry >

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 comes, via Anglo-French, from the Medieval Latin verb bajulare, meaning “to care for” or “to support.” The second half of bailiwick comes from wik, a Middle English word for “dwelling place” or “village,” which ultimately hails from the Latin word vicus, meaning “village.” (This root is also thought to have given English -wich and -wick, suffixes used in place names like Norwich and Warwick.) Although bailiwick dates from the 15th century, the “special domain of knowledge” sense we use most often today did not appear in English until the middle of the 19th century.

Merriam Webster Dictionary