Home › Words › B › bailiffbailiff/ˈbeɪlɪf/bailiff means A surname originating as an occupation.bailiff is pronounced /ˈbeɪlɪf/.EtymologyOccupational surname, from bailiff.nameA surname originating as an occupation.nounAn officer of the court; A reeve, (specifically) the chief officer executing the decisions of any English court in the period following the Norman Conquest or executing the decisions of lower courts in the late medieval and early modern period.An officer of the court; A high bailiff: an officer of the county courts responsible for executing warrants and court orders, appointed by the judge and removable by the Lord Chancellor.An officer of the court; A bound bailiff: a deputy bailiff charged with debt collection.An officer of the court; Any law enforcement officer charged with courtroom security and order.An officer of the court; A huissier de justice or other foreign officer of the court acting as either a process server or as courtroom security.A public administrator; A king's man: any officer nominated by the English Crown.A public administrator; Synonym of hundredman: The chief officer of a hundred in medieval England.A public administrator; The title of the mayor of certain English towns.A public administrator; The title of the castellan of certain royal castles in England.A public administrator; The chief justice and president of the legislature on Jersey and Guernsey in the Channel Islands.A public administrator; The High Bailiff of the Isle of Man.A public administrator; A bailie: an alderman in certain Scottish towns.A public administrator; An appointee of the French king administering certain districts of northern France in the Middle Ages.A public administrator; A head of a district ("bailiwick") of the Knights Hospitaller; a head of one of the national associations ("tongues") of the Hospitallers' headquarters on Rhodes or Malta.A public administrator; A landvogt in the medieval German states.Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).Words closest in meaningBy meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.bailie 71% match — A bailiff. vs bailiff →bailiffship 69% match — The role or status of a bailiff. vs bailiff →bailivate 68% match — The office of bailiff. vs bailiff →bailival 64% match — Relating to, or ruled by, a bailiff. vs bailiff →bumbailiff 62% match — A bound bailiff. vs bailiff →audiencier 61% match — A bailiff in certain French courts. vs bailiff →baillieship 59% match — The office or jursidiction of a bailie vs bailiff →landreeve 59% match — A subofficer overseeing an area of land, a kind of bailiff or steward. vs bailiff →