SIR • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • 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

... "Yes, sir. They did that because they said he was a pirate, and that he murdered his mate. He said his mate mutinied, and that he was justified in killing him. There were a lot of others who went out to catch pirates, but ended by turning pirates themselves. Then there were ...

— The Voyage of the Hoppergrass • Edmund Lester Pearson

... relation of mine had killed his antagonist in a duel, and was himself dangerously wounded, I saw little of Dr. Johnson till Monday, April 28, when I spent a considerable part of the day with him, and introduced the subject, which then chiefly occupied my mind. JOHNSON. 'I do not see, Sir, that fighting is absolutely forbidden in Scripture; I see revenge forbidden, but not self-defence.' BOSWELL. 'The Quakers say it is; "Unto him that smiteth thee on one cheek, offer him also the other."' JOHNSON. 'But stay, Sir; the text is meant ...

— Life of Johnson - Abridged and Edited, with an Introduction by Charles Grosvenor Osgood • James Boswell

... a fancy, but I don't like to see anybody fall ill in May," she continued. "Things seem to go wrong in May. Perhaps it's the moon. They say the moon affects the brain, don't they, Sir?" ...

— The Voyage Out • Virginia Woolf

... SERGEANT. Sir Yager, I can't but with pity melt, When I think how much among boors you've dwelt. The clever knack and the proper tone, Are caught by the general's ...

— The Works of Frederich Schiller in English • Frederich Schiller

... magnificent dining-room, blazing with the gilded devices of the House of Rich, to some tavern where he could enjoy a laugh, a talk about Virgil and Boileau, and a bottle of claret, with the friends of his happier days. All those friends, however, were not left to him. Sir Richard Steele had been gradually estranged by various causes. He considered himself as one who, in evil times, had braved martyrdom for his political principles, and demanded, when the Whig party was triumphant, a large compensation for what he had ...

— Critical and Historical Essays Volume 2 • Thomas Babington Macaulay

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