Etymologically
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sir

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:39. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: strong UK /sɜː/, US /sɝː/; weak UK /sə/, US /sɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sir, a reduced form of sire,[2][3][4][5] used at first only in an unstressed position before a name.[2][3][6] Sire is from Latin senior (“older, older man”).[7] Etymonline notes that it is not an acronym of anything.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The title of honour of a knight or baronet, placed before his name: 1297,[8] probably before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin,[3] or about 1300.[2] Until the 17th century it was also a title of priests.[2]

Semantic evolution

By about 1350 sir was used as a respectful form of address,[3][2] and in time extended to all equals or used without regard to rank.[2] It is a salutation at the start of letters from the early 15th century,[2] or by 1425.[3] As a noun, “a person of rank”, it is from the 14th century.[2] It was also applied in retrospect to notable people of ancient and sacred history, from before 1300.[8] The verb, “to address as sir”, is from 1576.[8]

Timeline

  • 1297 – a knight's title.[8]
  • c. 1350 – a respectful form of address.[3]
  • early 15th century – in letters.[2]
  • 1576 – verb, to call someone sir.[8]
  • 17th century – no longer a priest's title.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A polite form of address to a man.
  2. A title used before the name of a knight or baronet: Sir Walter Scott.
  3. A salutation at the start of a letter: Dear Sir.

Word family

  • surly
  • siree
  • sirrah
  • sirree

Usage notes

The Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary notes that sir has strong and weak forms: the strong form is used when children address a male teacher, in Dear Sir or Madam and to begin addressing someone, while at the end of an utterance either may be used, the weak form being more common in the military.[1] Word Origins notes that kings were formerly addressed as sire, which is now more often used of the male parent of an animal.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press