sir

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

sir (disambiguation)

Wikipedia

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, signore, and sire.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɜː(ɹ)/
• (General American) enPR: ˈsûr, IPA^(key): /ˈsɝ/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɹ/
• (Indian English) IPA^(key): /ˈsə(ɹ)/
• (unstressed) IPA^(key): /sə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:

sir (title)

Wikipedia

sir (plural sirs)

1. A man of a higher rank or position.
2. 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.

   1. 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.

   2. to a superior military officer.

      Sir, yes sir.

      Coordinate term: ma'am

   3. to a teacher.

      Here's my report, sir.

      Coordinate term: miss

3. 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

Related terms

Translations

Verb

sir (third-person singular simple present sirs, present participle sirring, simple past and past participle sirred)

1. (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!

   • 1997, Ed Solomon, Men in Black, spoken by Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones):

     Don't "Sir" me, young man, you have no idea who you're dealing with!

Translations

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

• IRS, IRs, ISR, Isr., RIS, RIs, RSI, SRI

Ainu

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siɾ/,

Noun

sir

1. appearance
2. earth
3. land, mountain

Chinese

Alternative forms

• ⿰⿳⿰SIR木阝

Pronunciation

Noun

sir (Cantonese)

1. an honorific to a man senior than oneself, especially a teacher or a police officer

   陳sir／陈sir [Cantonese]  ―  can^4-2 soe⁴   ―  Mr. Chan

   • (Can we date this quote?), 夏雨田, 黄俊英, 借电话‎:

     我聽講我哋三樓同埋四樓嗰個譚sir呀周sir呀，噉樣佢哋已經申請緊 [Cantonese, trad.]
     我听讲我哋三楼同埋四楼嗰个谭sir呀周sir呀，噉样佢哋已经申请紧 [Cantonese, simp.]

     ngo⁵ teng¹ gong² ngo⁵ dei⁶ saam¹ lau^4-2 tung⁴ maai⁴ sei³ lau^4-2 go² go³ taam^4-2 soe⁴ aa³ zau¹ soe⁴ aa³, gam² joeng^6-2 keoi⁵ dei⁶ ji⁵ ging¹ san¹ cing² gan²

     I hear that Mr. Tam on the 3rd floor and Mr. Chau on the fourth floor have already applied .

Related terms

• 阿Sir

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɪɾʲ/

Verb

sir (present analytic sireann, future analytic sirfidh, verbal noun sireadh, past participle sirthe)

1. (literary) travel through, traverse
2. (literary) seek out, have recourse to
3. (literary) seek, ask for

   An té a shireas ní ar neach. ― Whoever asks someone for something.

4. (literary) beseech, implore

   Sirim an tAthair. ― I beseech the Father.

Conjugation

Middle English

Noun

sir

1. Alternative form of sire

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English sir.

Noun

sir m (uncountable)

1. sir

Declension

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)

1. seek, search, look for

   Synonym: lorg

Mutation

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *syrъ, derived from "sour milk".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sîr/

Noun

sȉr m (Cyrillic spelling си̏р)

1. cheese

Declension

Derived terms

• sȋrnī

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *syrъ, derived from "sour milk".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sír/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

sȉr m inan

1. cheese

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Derived terms

• síriti

Further reading

• “sir”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Uzbek

Etymology 1

From Russian сыр (syr).

Noun

sir (plural sirlar)

1. cheese

Declension

Synonyms

pishloq

Etymology 2

From Arabic سِرّ (sirr).

Noun

sir (plural sirlar)

1. secret

Declension

Welsh

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle English shire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siːr/
  • (South Wales, colloquial also) IPA^(key): /ʃiːr/
• Rhymes: -iːr
• Homophone: sur (South Wales)

Noun

sir f (plural siroedd, not mutable)

1. county, shire

   Synonym: swydd

Derived terms

• sirol (“relating to a county”)

References

Zay

Etymology

Cognate to Silt'e (sa:r).

Noun

sir

1. grass

References

• Initial SLLE Survey of the Zway Area by Klaus Wedekind and Charlotte Wedekind, SIL International 2002, p. 6 (sil.org)

Zazaki

Etymology

Compare Persian سیر (sir, “garlic”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: sir

Noun

sir

1. garlic