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sir

noun
/sɜː/UK/sɝ/US/sɪɾ/

Etymology

From Middle English sir, unstressed form of sire, borrowed from Old French sire (“master, sir, lord”), from Latin senior (“older, elder”), from senex (“old”). Doublet of seigneur, seignior, senhor, senior, señor, senyor, signore, and sire.

  1. derived from senior — “older, elder”
  2. derived from sire — “master, sir, lord”
  3. inherited from sir

Definitions

  1. A man of a higher rank or position.

  2. A respectful term of address to a man of higher rank or position, particularly

  3. A respectful term of address to a man of higher rank or position

    • Just be careful. He gets whingy now if you don't address him as Sir John.
  4. ›+ 10 more definitions

    1. A respectful term of address to an adult male (often older), especially if his name or…

      A respectful term of address to an adult male (often older), especially if his name or proper title is unknown.

      • Excuse me, sir, do you know the way to the art museum?
      • Knowledge, sir, should be free to all!

    2. To address another individual using "sir".

      • Sir, yes, sir! —Don't you sir me, private! I work for a living!
      • Don't "Sir" me, young man, you have no idea who you're dealing with!

    3. Alternative letter-case form of sir.

    4. The titular prefix given to a knight or baronet.

    5. A respectful term of address or reference to a man of higher rank or position before the…

      A respectful term of address or reference to a man of higher rank or position before the man's given name or nickname.

    6. Alternative form of Syr.

    7. Initialism of surface insulation resistance.

    8. Abbreviation of silent information regulator.

    9. Initialism of Special Intensive Revision, a voter-roll revision process in India.

    10. Initialism of susceptible-infected/infectious-removed/recovered.

The neighborhood

Derived

dear Sir, dear Sir or Madam, dear Sirs, don't call me sir, I work for a living, mamsir, nossuh, siree, siress, Sir Francis Drake Channel, sirji, Sir John Lack-Latin, sirrah, sirree, sir sandwich, surly, yessir, yessuh

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for sir. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA