bailiff

noun
/ˈbeɪlɪf/

Etymology

From Middle English baillif, baylyf, from Anglo-Norman and Old French bailif (plural bailis), probably from Vulgar Latin *bāiulivus (“castellan”), from Latin bāiulus (“porter; steward”), whence also bail. As a translation of foreign titles, semantic loan from French bailli, Scots bailie, Dutch baljuw, etc. Mostly replaced the role of native reeve. Doublet of bailo.

  1. derived from bāiulus
  2. derived from *bāiulivus
  3. derived from bailif
  4. inherited from baillif

Definitions

  1. An officer of the court

  2. A public administrator

  3. A private administrator, particularly

  4. + 2 more definitions
    1. Any debt collector, regardless of his or her official status.

    2. A surname originating as an occupation.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bailiff. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA