The Canadian Oxford Dictionary:
riding² n. 1. (in Canada) a district whose voters elect a representative member to a legislative body; a constituency or electoral district. 2. (in the UK) each of three former administrative divisions (East Riding, North Riding, West Riding) of Yorkshire. [Old English thriding (unrecorded) from Old Norse thrithjungr third part from thrithi THIRD: th- was lost owing to the preceding -t or -th of east etc.]
http://www.wissen.deWörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
Wahl|kreis [m. 1] festgelegter geographischer Bezirk, dessen Wähler eine bestimmte Zahl von Abgeordneten wählen
Chambers 21st Century Dictionary:
riding² noun (often Riding when part of a name) 1 any of the three former administrative divisions of Yorkshire, East Riding, North Riding and West Riding. 2 Can a political constituency.
http://unabridged.merriam-webster.comMain Entry: 1ri·ding
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English riding, rithing, by simplification of -th th-, -t th- in (assumed) north thriding, east thriding, west thriding, from (assumed) Old English thriding, thrithing (whence Medieval Latin treding, trehinga), from Old Norse thrithjungr third part, from thrithi third + -ungr -ing -- more at THIRD, -ING (one of a kind)
1 : one of the three administrative jurisdictions into which Yorkshire, England, was formerly divided <East Riding> <West Riding> <North Riding>
2 : an administrative jurisdiction or electoral district in an English county other than Yorkshire or in one of the British dominions (as New Zealand or Canada)
Langenscheidt, Der Große Muret-Sanders:
riding² s Riding n: a) einer der drei Bezirke von Yorkshire, b) ein ähnlicher Verwaltungsbezirk, c) (in Neuseeland) Kreis, Bezirk
Cassell's German Dictionary:
²riding, s. der Verwaltungsbezirk (in Yorkshire)
