means An elected or appointed law-enforcement officer with authority over a county, responsible for policing, running the jail, and serving court orders.

from A genuine Old English mashup: 'shire' (a county or administrative district) plus 'reeve' (a royal official or steward), giving 'scīrgerēfa' — literally the 'shire-reeve,' the king's man minding a county. Centuries of slurring it together wore the two words down into 'sheriff.' So the title is older than England's united kingdom and far older than the American West that made it famous on a tin star.