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Origin and history of bailiff

bailiff(n.)

c. 1300 (early 13c. in surnames), "subordinate administrative or judicial officer of the English crown, king's officer in a county, hundred, or other local district;" also "keeper of a royal castle;" also "minor judiciary officer under a sheriff," who serves writs, etc.; from Old French baillif (12c., nominative baillis) "administrative official, deputy," from Vulgar Latin *baiulivus "official in charge of a castle," from Latin baiulus "porter" (see bail (n.1)). From early 14c. as "agent of a lord, overseer of an estate" who directs operations, collects rents, etc.; also used in Middle English of an elected official in a town.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to bailiff

bail(n.1)

"bond money, security given to obtain the release of a prisoner," late 15c., a sense that apparently developed from that of "temporary release (of an arrested person) from jail" (into the custody of another, who gives security for future appearance at trial), which is recorded from early 15c. That seems to have evolved from the earlier meanings "captivity, custody" (late 14c.), "charge, guardianship" (early 14c.).

The word is from Old French baillier "to control, to guard, deliver" (12c.), from Latin baiulare "to bear a burden," from baiulus "porter, carrier, one who bears burdens (for pay)," which is of uncertain origin; perhaps it is a borrowing from Germanic and cognate with the root of English pack, or perhaps from Celtic. De Vaan writes that, in either case, "PIE origin seems unlikely."

To go to (or in) bail "be released on bail" is attested from mid-15c. In late 18c. criminal slang, to give leg bail meant "to run away."

bailey(n.)

Middle English baylle, "wall enclosing an outer court" of a castle, fortified city, etc. (c. 1200 in Anglo-Latin, late 13c. in place-names), a variant of bail, from Old French bail "stake, palisade, brace," which is of unknown origin, perhaps ultimately connected to Latin bacula "sticks," on notion of "stakes, palisade fence."

The word was extended to mean the outer court itself (early 14c.). Hence Old Bailey, seat of Central Criminal Court in London, so called because it stood within the ancient bailey of the city wall. The surname Bailey usually is from Old French bailli, a later form of baillif (see bailiff). Bailey's, the Irish whiskey- and cream-based liqueur, was introduced in 1974 and said to have been named for the historic Bailey's Hotel in London.

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dun
The oldest theory traces it to a Joe Dun, supposedly a London bailiff famous for catching defaulters....
scot
"a drinking party, probably compulsory, held by a sheriff, forester, bailiff, etc., for which a contribution was exacted"...
official
early 14c., "minor ecclesiastical court officer" (mid-13c. as a surname), from Old French oficial "law officer; bishop's representative" (12c.) and directly from Late Latin officialis "attendant to a magistrate, public official," noun use of officialis (adj.) "of or belonging to
plagiarism
"the purloining or wrongful appropriation of another's ideas, writing, artistic designs, etc., and giving these forth as one's own" [Century Dictionary], 1620s, from -ism + plagiary (n.) "plagiarist, literary thief" (c. 1600), from Latin plagiarius "kidnapper, seducer, plunderer,
posthumous
mid-15c., posthumus, "born after the death of the originator" (author or father), from Late Latin posthumus, from Latin postumus "last," especially "last-born," superlative of posterus "coming after, subsequent" (see posterior). Altered in Late Latin by association with Latin hum
supplication
late 14c., supplicacioun, "earnest request, entreaty, plea," from Old French suplicacion "humble request" and directly from Latin supplicationem (nominative supplicatio) "a public prayer, thanksgiving day," noun of action from past-participle stem of supplicare "to beg humbly" (i
artillery
late 14c., "warlike munitions," especially ballistic engines, from Anglo-French artillerie, Old French artillerie (14c.), from artillier "to provide with engines of war" (13c.), which probably is from Medieval Latin articulum "art, skill," a diminutive of Latin ars (genitive arti
heresy
"doctrine or opinion at variance with established standards" (or, as Johnson defines it, "an opinion of private men different from that of the catholick and orthodox church"), c. 1200, from Old French heresie, eresie "heresy," and by extension "sodomy, immorality" (12c.), from La
thesis
late 14c., "unaccented syllable or note," from Latin thesis "unaccented syllable in poetry," later (and more correctly) "stressed part of a metrical foot," from Greek thesis "a proposition," also "downbeat" (in music), originally "a setting down, a placing, an arranging; position
macabre
early 15c., in Macabrees daunce, daunce of Machabree, a kind of morality show or allegorical representation of death and his victims, from Old French (danse) Macabré "(dance) of Death" (1376), which is of uncertain origin. John Lydgate (c. 1370–c. 1451), the monk/poet who first t

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