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sceriffo

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word sceriffo

sceriffo1 sheriff

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1498, report of the Venetian ambassadors (as serifo)
Borrowed from
English sheriff
Ultimate origin
Old English scīrġerēfa
Etymology tree of sceriffo1
inherited borrowed derived
English sheriff
Italian sceriffo

Pronunciation

  • /ʃeˈrif.fo/[1]

Forms

sceriffo m (plural sceriffi)[1]

Etymology

The sheriff is borrowed from English sheriff, from Old English scīrġerēfa, a compound of scīr (“shire, county”) and ġerēfa (“reeve, magistrate”).[2][3][4] DELI dates the English word to about 1034.[2] Zingarelli, Gabrielli and Treccani give a route through French chérif, while DELI, Nocentini and GRADIT take the word directly from English;[5][6][7][8] Prati records shériff from 1688.[5][6][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded as serifo in 1498, in a report of the Venetian ambassadors on England, which explains that London has its mayor, every town its own magistrate, and the shires their serifo.[2][9][4] The form sceriffo appears in 1749, in the Italian translation of Chambers's Cyclopaedia.[2]

Semantic evolution

Older texts also have scheriffo, scerifo and seriffo.[9] The American sense, the elected head of the police of a county, is recorded from 1905 in Panzini's dictionary of new words, and Westerns made it familiar.[2][4] In popular use a sceriffo is also a private security guard, and journalists call a mayor or official who enforces order with rough methods a sindaco sceriffo.[4][10][11]

Timeline

  • About 1034 – The English word is recorded, in an Old English form.[2]
  • 1498 – Serifo appears in a Venetian ambassadors' report on England.[2]
  • 1749 – Sceriffo appears in the Italian Chambers.[2]
  • 1905 – Panzini records the American sense.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a sheriff, a county officer with administrative and judicial duties, today largely honorary.[4][10][7]
  2. In the United States, the elected head of the police of a county.[4][10][11]
  3. (popular) A private security guard.[4][11][5]
  4. (figurative) Someone who takes it upon themselves to enforce the law, usually with harsh methods: un sindaco sceriffo.[10]

sceriffo2 sharif

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1375 (as syriph)
Borrowed from
Arabic شريف
Ultimate origin
Arabic شريف

Pronunciation

  • /ʃeˈrif.fo/[1]

Forms

sceriffo m (plural sceriffi)[1]

Etymology

The sharif is borrowed from Arabic شريف (šarīf, “noble”), the title of the descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima.[3][4][1] The same Arabic word gave French chérif (1552, Rabelais; sérif 1528) and English sherif (1599).[12][8] The dialect plural “shurfa” was taken into Italian administrative language as “sciorfà”.[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nocentini records the title as syriph in 1375 and as ciriffo about 1466.[3] GRADIT dates it to about 1300.[4] The form sceriffo is from 1553.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Reports on North Africa and Arabia used the forms serif, seriffo and sceriffo: Leo Africanus stayed three days in a city “with the serif prince”, and Venetian ambassadors wrote of the seriffo of Mecca and the sceriffo king of Fez.[9] The name also passed to a Muslim gold coin worth a little more than the Venetian sequin.[9] Today the word is a historical term for this religious nobility.[4][7]

Timeline

  • 1375 – The title is recorded as syriph.[3]
  • About 1466 – The form ciriffo is recorded.[3]
  • 1553 – The form sceriffo is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (historical) A sharif, a descendant of Muhammad through Fatima and Ali, venerated and holding religious and political authority.[4][10][7]

Word family

  • sceriffiano
  • English sheriff
  • English shire
  • English reeve

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  7. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  8. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti
  9. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  10. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  12. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3383

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Sceriffo.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/sceriffo. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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