I am currently designing a Mystery Cult where an initiate dedicate his life to protect an area: ruin of an ancient temple, sacred glen in a forest, ancient sanctuary of pre-christian god (loosely based it on early life of Ion as guardian of the Delphic Oracle) .
I am looking for a word describing the area that falls under the protection of the initiate. The only English word I found is "bailiwick". Not being native English speaker, I would like:
To know if it is the appropriate word for what I want to describe
Is there a latin or greek word that would sound cooler ?
Bailiwick is not a commonly used word anymore (though it does still exist) that is mostly divorced from its historical use, so we would have to look at historical usage.
If we look at the Middle English terms, we find that it is combination of the words 'Bailie' (municipal officer and magistrate) and 'Wick' (a town, hamlet, or district. From Old English Wīc meaning 'dwelling place'). Literally the district of an officer and magistrate.
Moving on, the term 'Bailie' is derived from the Old French term 'Bailli'. Another related word is 'Bailiff' which is based on the Old French term 'Baillif', which is itself derived from 'Bailli'. In Middle English 'Bailie' and 'Bailiff' were used interchangeably.
[Bailie has converted to Bail in common use today, while a Bailiff is a law officer assigned to the courts.]
'Bailli' and 'Baillif' trace back to the Latin 'Bajulus', which was a carrier or manager. So if you are looking for a Latin based term for the role then 'Bajulus' could work, being the root of the English and French terms commonly used at the time.
If anyone knows the Latin term for a Bajulus area, that would work.
The only place I have ever run across the word bailiwick is on Jersey, which is one, as is Guernsey, and a couple other channel islands. I suppose the word simply means the domain of a bailiff, and the civic head of Jersey is indeed called a bailiff according to wikipedia, although I never met them and could not attest it.
I would not hesitate to use the word, but then my children insist that I am 150 years old, and I am also not a native speaker.
B.Wood: nec quicquam positum sine luco, auro, ebore, argento, Plaut. Fragm. ap. Charis. p. 179 P.
A Latin Dictionary. Founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's Latin dictionary. revised, enlarged, and in great part rewritten by. Charlton T. Lewis, Ph.D. and. Charles Short, LL.D. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1879.
It literally means "district of a Bailie/Bailiff" historically in France, with 'Bailie' interchangeable with 'Bailiff' in use. In modern day, 'Bailie' has fallen out of use [it is the root of the word bail] and so completely replaced by 'Bailiff'.
Where I live the civic heads of districts are now called a 'Police Jury' in English. It traces back to the French system of Bailiffs. Despite the name, they are civil rather than law enforcement. For some reason Louisiana went with Parish instead of Bailiwick.
What's worth noting is that demesne typically refers to the land under the lord's direct control, as opposed to subinfeudated land. I suppose that works with the mystery. They are not going to subinfeudate, are they?
No. The initiate is dedicated to preserving and protecting an old temple, the ruins of a sanctuary or a sacred glen. The location must be "spiritually" alive, with a spirit, a fay or a genii locus residing in - usually too weak to protect itself.
I will post the whole Cult history/script once it is complete.
I would have gone with the term "Territory", as it works for both humans and animals protecting a given area, and is easily recognised. If you want a Latin term, I would choose from templum, fanum or aedes - apparently the three had very separate technical differences in early Roman history, by the time of the later empire they were used interchangeably for a temple and its surrounding precinct.
Ooh - precinct - that's a word that mean a religious area around a site as well as the area a group of police patrol. That's a really accurate word.