Knight of the Shire
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The old name for one of the two gentlemen of the rank of knight who represented a county or shire in the English Parliament; a member elected by a county, in contradistinction to a borough member.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Knight of the Shire” mean?
The old name for one of the two gentlemen of the rank of knight who represented a county or shire in the English Parliament; a member elected by a county, in contradistinction to a borough member.
Is “Knight of the Shire” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.