Meanings
plural bailiwicks
- The district within which a bailie or bailiff has jurisdiction.
The Bailiwick of Jersey.
Synonyms: jurisdiction
- broadlyA person's concern or sphere of operations, their area of skill or authority.
I established the fairly well-understood pattern that affairs of state were not in my bailiwick.
1961, Eleanor Roosevelt, The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt2 more examples
Jack is full of these insights, thoughtful turns of phrase from a character whose perpetual struggle between wastrel and righteous is all too familiar a bailiwick for the universal insecurities of the human condition.
2020 September 28, Alex McLevy, “Marilynne Robinson finds transcendence in the stunning, soul-searching Jack”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 01 Oct 2020This “feminist chortling” (as she calls it) about the disgraced royal is right in the bailiwick of the writer who virtually invented the term mansplaining.
2026 March 25, Zoe Williams, “‘A new world is being born’: author Rebecca Solnit on the ‘slow revolution’ the far right cannot tolerate”, in The Guardian, →ISSNSynonyms: domain, department, sphere, province, territory, turf, wheelhouse
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe district within which a bailie or bailiff has jurisdiction.
nounA person's concern or sphere of operations, their area of skill or authority.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna branch of knowledge
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishwīc
- Englishbailiwick
From bailie (“bailiff”) and wick (“dwelling”), from Old English wīc.
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch meierij, baljuwschap
- meierijprecincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction
- baljuwschapprecincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction
- gezagarea or subject of authority or involvement
- domeinarea or subject of authority or involvement
- competentiearea or subject of authority or involvement
French bailliage, bailliage
- bailliageprecincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction
- bailliagearea or subject of authority or involvement
- compétencearea or subject of authority or involvement
- autoritéarea or subject of authority or involvement
German Vogtei
- Vogteiprecincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction
Icelandic fógetaumdæmi, þekkingarsvið
- fógetaumdæmiprecincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction
- þekkingarsviðarea or subject of authority or involvement
- starfssviðarea or subject of authority or involvement
- áhugasviðarea or subject of authority or involvement
- valdsviðarea or subject of authority or involvement
Italian bailiato
- bailiatoprecincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction
Polish baliwat
- baliwatprecincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction
Russian бейливик
- бейливик (bejlivik)precincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction
Spanish bailía, bailía
- bailíaprecincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction
- bailíaarea or subject of authority or involvement
Swedish verksamhetsområde
- verksamhetsområdeprecincts within which a bailiff has jurisdiction
Cite this entry
bailiwick. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bailiwick
“bailiwick.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bailiwick. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bailiwick,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bailiwick.
Source: bailiwick on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.