ETYM Old Fren. baillif, French bailli, custodian, magistrate, from Latin bajulus porter. Related to Bail to deliver.
An officer of the court who is employed to execute writs and processes and make arrests etc.
Sheriff's officer; agent or steward of estate.
Officer of the court whose job, usually in the county courts, is to serve notices and enforce the court's orders involving seizure of the goods of a debtor.
The term originated in Normandy as the name for a steward of an estate. It retained this meaning in England throughout the Middle Ages and could also denote a sheriff’s assistant. In France, the royal bailli or bayle was appointed to administer a large area of territory, the baillage, and was a leading local official.