SIR • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Sir

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/sər/ Listen

noun

Sir n.

1.

A man of social authority and dignity; a lord; a master; a gentleman; in this sense usually spelled sire. (Obs.) "He was crowned lord and sire." "In the election of a sir so rare."

2.

A title prefixed to the Christian name of a knight or a baronet. "Sir Horace Vere, his brother, was the principal in the active part."

3.

An English rendering of the LAtin Dominus, the academical title of a bachelor of arts; formerly colloquially, and sometimes contemptuously, applied to the clergy. "Instead of a faithful and painful teacher, they hire a Sir John, which hath better skill in playing at tables, or in keeping of a garden, than in God's word."

4.

A respectful title, used in addressing a man, without being prefixed to his name; used especially in speaking to elders or superiors; sometimes, also, used in the way of emphatic formality. "What's that to you, sir?" Note: Anciently, this title, was often used when a person was addressed as a man holding a certain office, or following a certain business. "Sir man of law." "Sir parish priest."

Sir reverance. See under Reverence, n.

See images of 'Sir'

Etymology of 'Sir'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sir" Quotes from Famous Books

... one thing," said the other, wiping his forehead with the black handkerchief, "and that's this, my boy: last night's business has just about put the cap on the Beach fer me. I'm sick of it and I'm tired of it! I'm ready to quit, sir!" ...

— The Conquest of Canaan • Booth Tarkington

... mentioned in Sir William Hamilton's account of an eruption of Mount Vesuvius.—See Phil. ...

— The Parent's Assistant • Maria Edgeworth

... with poor success. When it became known in the city that the army was moving southward from Royston something like a panic prevailed. The trained bands were called out on pain of death and shops ordered to be shut, Sir John Gayer, the lord mayor, being especially active. But when the companies appeared on parade they were found to be lamentably deficient in numbers, "not ten men of some companies appeared, and many companies none at all but officers."(763) The whole affair was treated as a farce by ...

— London and the Kingdom - Volume II • Reginald R. Sharpe

... the progress the builders had made from what I could remember of seven years before. Then there had still been left great open spaces where there should have been none; now it was a city once more; and even the Cathedral shewed its walls and a few roofs above the houses. The steeples too of Sir Christopher Wren's new churches pricked everywhere; though I saw later that there was yet much building to be done, both in these and in many of the greater houses. My man James rode with me; (for I had been careful not to ...

— Oddsfish! • Robert Hugh Benson

... valley of the Ouse is famous. The style of the tower is Norman, but the body of the church is of later dates. Here are some fine brasses; one is supposed to commemorate a de Warenne who died about 1380; another is to John Bradford, rector, dated 1457. The monument to Sir Nicholas Pelham (1559) has an oft-quoted ...

— Seaward Sussex - The South Downs from End to End • Edric Holmes

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