. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
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 .
Pronunciation
Noun
sir (plural sirs )
A man of a higher rank or position .
A respectful term of address to a man of higher rank or position , particularly:
1991 May 12, “Kidnapped! ”, in Jeeves and Wooster , Series 2, Episode 5:Jeeves: Foreign travel often liberates emotions best kept in check, sir . The air of North America is notoriously stimulating in this regard, as witness the regrettable behavior of its inhabitants in 1776.B. Wooster: Hm? What happened in 1776, Jeeves?Jeeves: I prefer not to dwell on it, if it's convenient to you, sir .
to a knight or other low member of the peerage .
Just be careful. He gets whingy now if you don't address him as Sir John.
to a superior military officer .
Sir , yes sir.
Coordinate term: ma'am
to a teacher .
Here's my report, sir .
Coordinate term: miss
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?
Coordinate terms: madam , ma'am , miss
Derived terms
Translations
man of a higher rank or position
address to a military superior
address to any male, especially if his name or proper address is unknown
Albanian: zotëri (sq) m
Arabic: أُسْتَاذ (ar) m ( ʔustāḏ ) , سَيِّد m ( sayyid ) , سَيِّدِي m ( sayyidī ) , حَضْرَتَك m ( ḥaḍratak ) , أَفَنْدِي m ( ʔafandī ) , بَاشَا m ( bāšā )
Armenian: պարոն (hy) ( paron )
Azerbaijani: cənab (az) , ağa (az) , efendi (az)
Baluchi: واجہ ( wája )
Belarusian: спада́р (be) m ( spadár ) , пан m ( pan )
Bengali: জনাব (bn) ( jonab )
Bulgarian: господи́н (bg) m ( gospodín )
Burmese: ဦး (my) ( u: ) , ခင်ဗျာ (my) ( hkangbya ) ( used by males to address both males and females ) , ရှင် (my) ( hrang ) ( used by females to address both males and females )
Catalan: senyor (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 先生 ( sin1 saang1 )
Dungan: щянсын ( xi͡ansɨn )
Hokkien: 先生 (zh-min-nan) ( sian-siⁿ, sin-seⁿ, sian-seⁿ )
Mandarin: 先生 (zh) ( xiānsheng )
Czech: pan (cs) m , pán (cs) m , pane (cs) m ( vocative )
Danish: herre (da) c , hr. (da) c
Dutch: meneer (nl) m , mijnheer (nl) m
Esperanto: sinjoro (eo)
Estonian: härra
Finnish: herra (fi)
French: monsieur (fr) m
Friulian: siôr m , signôr m , missâr m
Georgian: ბატონო ( baṭono )
German: Herr (de) m , mein Herr m ( "my lord" )
Greek: κύριος (el) m ( kýrios ) , κύριε (el) m ( kýrie ) ( vocative )
Ancient Greek: μακάριε m ( makárie ) ( vocative )
Haitian Creole: konpè , mesye
Hebrew: אֲדוֹנִי ( adoní )
Hindi: श्रीमान (hi) m ( śrīmān ) , श्री (hi) ? ( śrī ) , सर (hi) m ( sar ) , साहिब (hi) m ( sāhib ) , महोदय (hi) m ( mahoday ) , जनाब (hi) m ( janāb )
Hungarian: uram (hu)
Icelandic: herra (is) m
Indonesian: tuan (id) , ustaz (id)
Italian: signore (it) m
Japanese: 旦那 (ja) ( だんな, danna ) , サー (ja) ( sā ) ( in translations from English ) , 旦那 様 ( だんなさま, danna-sama )
Kazakh: мырза ( myrza )
Khmer: ភោ ( phoo )
Korean: 선생님 (ko) ( seonsaengnim ) , 씨 (ko) ( -ssi ) , 아저씨 (ko) ( ajeossi )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کاک ( kak )
Northern Kurdish: birêz (ku) , kek (ku) , mîrza (ku) , efendî (ku)
Kyrgyz: господин (ky) ( gospodin ) , мырза ( mırza ) , байке (ky) ( bayke ) , аке (ky) ( ake )
Lao: ທ່ານ ( thān ) , ທ່ານເອີຽ ( thān ʼœ̄i )
Latin: dominus (la) m , domine (la) m ( vocative )
Latvian: kungs m
Lithuanian: ponas m , pone m ( vocative )
Macedonian: го́сподин m ( góspodin ) , госпо́дине m ( gospódine ) ( vocative )
Malay: tuan (ms) , ustaz
Maori: tā
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: ноён (mn) ( nojon )
Mwali Comorian: bwana
Ndzwani Comorian: mwenye
Nepali: श्रीमान ( srimān ) , श्री ( sri )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: herre (no) m
Occitan: senhor (oc) m
Pashto: آقا m ( aqā ) , آغا m ( āǧā ) , ښاغلى m ( x̌āǧᶕlay ) , صاحب (ps) m ( sāheb )
Persian: آقا (fa) ( âqâ ) , جناب (fa) ( jenâb )
Polish: pan (pl) m , panie m ( vocative )
Portuguese: senhor (pt) m
Quechua: wiraqucha (qu)
Romanian: domn (ro) m , (domnule ) ( vocative )
Russian: ( obsolete ) су́дарь (ru) m ( súdarʹ ) , господи́н (ru) m ( gospodín ) , сэр (ru) m ( sɛr ) ( in translations from English )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: госпо̀дин m
Roman: gospòdin (sh) m
Slovak: pán (sk) m , pane (sk) m ( vocative )
Slovene: gospod (sl) m
Spanish: señor (es) m
Swedish: herr (sv) c , herre (sv) c
Tajik: ҷаноб (tg) ( janob ) , оғо ( oġo )
Tatar: әфәнде (tt) ( äfände )
Turkish: beyefendi (tr) , efendi (tr) , ağa (tr)
Turkmen: jenap (tk)
Ukrainian: пан (uk) m ( pan ) , сер m ( ser ) ( in translations from English )
Urdu: صاحب m ( sāhib ) , جناب m ( janāb ) , سر (ur) m ( sar )
Uyghur: جاناپ ( janap ) , ئەپەندى ( ependi ) , ئۇستاز ( ustaz ) , ئەپەندىم ( ependim )
Uzbek: janob (uz) , agʻa , afandi (uz)
Vietnamese: ngài (vi) , ông (vi)
Yiddish: הער m ( her )
Translations to be checked
Verb
sir (third-person singular simple present sirs , present participle sirring , simple past and past participle sirred )
( transitive , informal ) To address another individual using "sir".
Coordinate terms: ma'am , mam
Sir, yes, sir! —Don't you sir me, private! I work for a living!
Translations
to address (someone) using "sir"
See also
lord
(titles ) ( of a man ) : Mr (Mister , mister ), Sir (sir ); ( of a woman ) : Ms (Miz , mizz ), Mrs (Mistress , mistress ), Miss (miss ), Dame (dame ), Madam (madam , ma'am ); ( of a non-binary person ) : Mx (Mixter ); ( see also ) : Dr (Doctor , doctor ) (Category: en:Titles )
Further reading
“sir ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam , 1913 , →OCLC .
“sir ”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , 1911 , →OCLC .
Anagrams
Sri , IRS , RSI , ISR , IRs , Isr. , R.I.S. , RIs , SRI , R. I. S. , RIS
Ainu
Pronunciation
Noun
sir (Kana spelling シㇼ )
appearance
earth
land , mountain
Chinese
Etymology 1
From English sir .
Pronunciation
Noun
sir ( Cantonese )
an honorific to a man senior than oneself, especially a teacher or a police officer
陳 sir / 陈 sir [Cantonese ] ― can4-2 soe4 ― Mr. Chan
Etymology 2
Romanisation of 瀡 ( soe4 ) , influenced by spelling of English sir . Not related to English sir semantically.
Pronunciation
Verb
sir ( Cantonese )
Nonstandard form of 瀡 ( soe4 ) .
Irish
Pronunciation
Verb
sir (present analytic sireann , future analytic sirfidh , verbal noun sireadh , past participle sirthe )
( literary ) travel through, traverse
( literary ) seek out , have recourse to
( literary ) seek , ask for
An té a shireas ní ar neach. ― Whoever asks someone for something.
( literary ) beseech , implore
Sirim an tAthair. ― I beseech the Father.
Conjugation
singular
plural
relative
autonomous
first
second
third
first
second
third
indicative
present
sirim
sireann tú; sirir †
sireann sé, sí
sirimid
sireann sibh
sireann siad; sirid †
a shireann ; a shireas / a sireann *
sirtear
past
shir mé; shireas
shir tú; shiris
shir sé, sí
shireamar ; shir muid
shir sibh; shireabhair
shir siad; shireadar
a shir / ar shir *
sireadh
past habitual
shirinn / sirinn ‡‡
shirteá / sirteá ‡‡
shireadh sé, sí / sireadh sé, s퇇
shirimis ; shireadh muid / sirimis ‡‡; sireadh muid‡‡
shireadh sibh / sireadh sibh‡‡
shiridís ; shireadh siad / siridís ‡‡; sireadh siad‡‡
a shireadh / a sireadh *
shirtí / sirtí ‡‡
future
sirfidh mé; sirfead
sirfidh tú; sirfir †
sirfidh sé, sí
sirfimid ; sirfidh muid
sirfidh sibh
sirfidh siad; sirfid †
a shirfidh ; a shirfeas / a sirfidh *
sirfear
conditional
shirfinn / sirfinn ‡‡
shirfeá / sirfeá ‡‡
shirfeadh sé, sí / sirfeadh sé, s퇇
shirfimis ; shirfeadh muid / sirfimis ‡‡; sirfeadh muid‡‡
shirfeadh sibh / sirfeadh sibh‡‡
shirfidís ; shirfeadh siad / sirfidís ‡‡; sirfeadh siad‡‡
a shirfeadh / a sirfeadh *
shirfí / sirfí ‡‡
subjunctive
present
go sire mé; go siread †
go sire tú; go sirir †
go sire sé, sí
go sirimid ; go sire muid
go sire sibh
go sire siad; go sirid †
—
go sirtear
past
dá sirinn
dá sirteá
dá sireadh sé, sí
dá sirimis ; dá sireadh muid
dá sireadh sibh
dá siridís ; dá sireadh siad
—
dá sirtí
imperative
sirim
sir
sireadh sé, sí
sirimis
sirigí ; siridh †
siridís
—
sirtear
verbal noun
sireadh
past participle
sirthe
* indirect relative † archaic or dialect form ‡‡ dependent form used with particles that trigger eclipsis
Middle English
Noun
sir
Alternative form of sire
Romanian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from English sir .
Noun
sir m (uncountable )
sir
Declension
singular only
indefinite
definite
nominative-accusative
sir
sirul
genitive-dative
sir
sirului
vocative
sirule
Scottish Gaelic
Etymology
From Old Irish sirid ( “ to traverse, seek ” ) . Cognate with Manx shirr .
Verb
sir (past shir , future siridh , verbal noun sireadh , past participle sirte )
seek , search , look for
Synonym: lorg
Mutation
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic. All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *syrъ , derived from "sour milk".
Pronunciation
Noun
sȉr m (Cyrillic spelling си̏р )
cheese
Declension
Derived terms
Slovene
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *syrъ , derived from "sour milk".
Pronunciation
Noun
sȉr m inan
cheese
Inflection
Derived terms
Further reading
“sir ”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2024
Uzbek
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Russian сыр ( syr ) .
Noun
sir (plural sirlar )
cheese
Declension
Synonyms
pishloq
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Arabic سِرّ ( sirr ) .
Noun
sir (plural sirlar )
secret
Declension
Welsh
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle English shire .[ 1]
Pronunciation
Noun
sir f (plural siroedd , not mutable )
county , shire
Synonym: swydd
Derived terms
sirol ( “ relating to a county ” )
References
^ R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “sir ”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
Zay
Etymology
Cognate to Silt'e ( sa:r ) .
Noun
sir
grass
References
Initial SLLE Survey of the Zway Area by Klaus Wedekind and Charlotte Wedekind, SIL International 2002, p. 6 (sil.org )
Zazaki
garlic
Etymology
Compare Persian سیر ( sir , “ garlic ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
sir
garlic