Shire
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Shire. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a geographical division common in England, corresponding roughly to the American county. Originally some of the English shires were the territory of the different tribes, petty kingdoms in short. As examples of these Kent, Essex, Surrey, Norfolk, and Suffolk may be named. Others, as Yorkshire, Durham, Cheshire, and Worcester, were the territory of ancient bishoprics. Still others are artificial divisions formed at later times. The earlier shires, after the petty kingdom period, were under the civic, military, or judicial headship of ealdormen or earls. Twice a year a shire-moot, that is to say, a court or assembly, was held which might be presided over by the earl or the bishop. Ultimately much of the authority exercised by the earls, bishops, and shire-moot was merged in the sovereign and in the Parliament of the kingdom, and the shire became merely the administrative division it is at present. The term sheriff or shire-reeve owes its origin to shire, the sheriff being the chief officer, uniting judicial with executive functions.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
in the United States, a division of a State, comprising several contiguous townships-a distinction must be drawn between the application of this word as between English and American usage; as, for instance, it is correct in the United States to say "the county of Berkshire"; whereas in England such an expression would be tautological, or, in other words, would convey the sense of "a county of a county." SHIRÉ, a river of southeastern Africa draining Lake Nyassa into the Zambesi, which it enters on its left bank after a course of about 270 miles nearly due S. It is navigable throughout its entire length, with the exception of about 35 miles of falls and rapids, during the course of which it descends as much as 1,200 feet.