DictionaryAI

bailiwick

noun
BAY-li-wik/ˈbeɪ.lɪ.wɪk/

Pluralbailiwicks

2 meanings of bailiwick

Practice

  1. 1
    area of skillnouncountable
    A person's area of concern or activity, the field in which they have skill or authority.

    Tax law is outside my bailiwick, so you'll want to talk to a specialist.

    The festival's music lineup has long been the director's personal bailiwick.

    UsageUsually with a possessive: in my bailiwick, outside her bailiwick; not my bailiwick politely declines a subject.

    Similardomain, province, field, sphere, territory

    Note

    Here a person's field is pictured as the bailiff's district, ground where their word holds and beyond which it does not. Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her autobiography that affairs of state "were not in my bailiwick".

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • The figurative meaning extends the literal idea of a bailiff's district of authority. en.wikipedia.org
    • Eleanor Roosevelt wrote the quoted words about affairs of state in The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 2
    legal districtnouncountable
    The district over which a bailie or bailiff has legal authority.

    Each bailiff answered to the crown for keeping the peace in his own bailiwick.

    The road crossed into a neighboring bailiwick, where another bailiff held authority.

    Similardistrict, jurisdiction

    Note

    The literal sense lives on in official names such as the Bailiwick of Jersey, written with a capital letter and followed by of and the place.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Bailiwick of Jersey is an official territorial name, with a capital B and of before Jersey. gov.wales

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of bailiwick apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

This compound puts together bailie, an old word for a bailiff, with wick, meaning a dwelling. Wick traces back to Old English wīc.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts