sir

See also: SIR, Sir, sır, sír, sîr, șir, şîr, şir, and siR

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”). Compare signor, señor. Doublet of senior, seignior, seigneur, 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)/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

Noun

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!" 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

• nossuh
• siree
• siress
• sirrah
• sirree
• yessuh

 

Related terms

• senate
• senex
• senior
• sire

 

Translations

man of a higher rank or position

• Bulgarian: господи́н (bg) m (gospodín)
• Dutch: heer (nl) m, meneer (nl) m
• Finnish: herra (fi)
• Galician: señor m
• Greek: Σέρ m (Sér)
• Hungarian: úr (hu)
• Japanese: 旦那 (danna)
• Latvian: sers m

• Lithuanian: ponas m
• Middle English: sire
• Polish: pan (pl) m
• Portuguese: senhor (pt) m
• Russian: господи́н (ru) m (gospodín)
• Turkish: efendim (tr)
• Ukrainian: пан (uk) m (pan)

address to a military superior

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 蛇 (soe⁴), 阿蛇 (aa³ soe⁴)

• Dutch: meneer (nl) m
• Finnish: herra (fi) (followed by the name of the rank)
• Hebrew: המפקד‎ m (hamfakéd)

• Portuguese: senhor (pt) m
• Romanian: să trăiți (lit. "may you live")
• Russian: (comrade) това́рищ (ru) m (továrišč) (+ military rank, in the Soviet/Russian Army), сэр (ru) m (sɛr) (in translations from English), господи́н (ru) m (gospodín) (+ military rank, in the Russian Army before 1917)
• Turkish: komutanım

address to any male, especially if his name or proper address is unknown

• Albanian: zotëri (sq) m
• Arabic: أُسْتَاذ‎ (ar) m (ʾustāḏ), سَيِّد‎ m (sayyid), سَيِّدِي‎ m (sayyidī), حَضْرَتَك‎ m (ḥaḍratak), أَفَنْدِي‎ m (ʾafandī), بَاشَا‎ m (bāšā)
• Armenian: պարոն (hy) (paron)
• Azerbaijani: cənab (az), ağa (az), efendi (az)
• Baluchi: واجہ‎ (wája)
• Belarusian: спада́р m (spadár), пан m (pan)
• Bengali: জনাব (jônab)
• 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:

  Mandarin: 先生 (zh) (xiānsheng)

  Min Nan: 先生 (zh-min-nan) (sian-siⁿ, sin-seⁿ, sian-seⁿ)

• Czech: pan (cs) m, pán (cs) m, pane (cs) m (vocative)
• Danish: herre (da) c
• Dutch: meneer (nl) m, mijnheer (nl) m
• 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)
• Italian: signore (it) m
• Japanese: 旦那 (danna), サー (sā) (in translations from English), 旦那様 (danna-sama)
• Kazakh: мырза (kk) (mırza)
• Khmer: ភោ (pʰou)

• Korean: 선생님 (ko) (seonsaengnim), -씨 (ko) (ssi), 아저씨 (ko) (ajeossi)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: کاک‎ (ku) (kak)

• Kyrgyz: господин (ky) (gospodin), мырза (mırza)
• 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
• Maori: tā
• Mongolian: ноён (mn) (nojon)
• Mwali Comorian: bwana
• Ndzwani Comorian: mwenye
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: herre (no) m

• Persian: آقا‎ (fa) (âqâ), جناب‎ (fa) (jenâb)
• Polish: pan (pl) m, panie m (vocative)
• Portuguese: senhor (pt) m
• 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)
• Turkish: beyefendi (tr), efendi (tr), ağa (tr)
• Turkmen: jenap (tk)
• Ukrainian: пан (uk) m (pan)
• Urdu: صاحب‎ m (sāhib), جناب‎ m (janāb), سر‎ (ur) m (sar)
• Uyghur: جاناپ‎ (janap)
• Uzbek: janob (uz), agʻa
• Vietnamese: ngài (vi), ông (vi)
• Yiddish: הער‎ m (her)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Catalan: ^{(please verify)} senyor (ca) m
• French: seigneur (fr) m

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} signore (it) m
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} señor (es) m

Verb

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

1. To address (someone) using "sir".

   Sir, yes, sir!
   Don't you sir me, private! I work for a living!

   Coordinate terms: ma'am, mam

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), (of a non-binary person): Mx (Mixter); (see also): Dr (Doctor, doctor), Madam (madam, ma'am) ^{(Category: en:Titles)}

Further reading

• sir in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sir in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911.

Anagrams

• IRS, ISR, Isr., RIS, RIs, RSI, SRI

---

Middle English

Noun

sir

1. Alternative form of sire

---

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

Scottish Gaelic mutation
Radical	Lenition
sir	shir after "an", t-sir
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

---

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sîr/

Noun

sȉr m (Cyrillic spelling си̏р)

1. cheese

Declension

Declension of sir

	singular	plural
nominative	sȉr	sìrevi
genitive	sira	sireva
dative	siru	sirevima
accusative	sir	sireve
vocative	siru	sirevi
locative	siru	sirevima
instrumental	sirom	sirevima

Derived terms

• sȋrnī

---

Slovene

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sír/

Noun

sȉr m inan

1. cheese

Inflection

Masculine inan., hard o-stem
nom. sing.	sìr
gen. sing.	síra
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	sìr	síra	síri
accusative	sìr	síra	síre
genitive	síra	sírov	sírov
dative	síru	síroma	sírom
locative	síru	sírih	sírih
instrumental	sírom	síroma	síri

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

Etymology 2

From Arabic سِرّ‎ (sirr).

Noun

sir (plural sirlar)

1. secret

---

Welsh

Etymology

Borrowed from English shire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siːr/

Noun

sir f (plural siroedd)

1. county, shire

Derived terms

• sirol (adjective)

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
sir	unchanged	unchanged	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

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 [script needed] (sa:r).

Noun

sir

1. grass

---

Zazaki

garlic

Etymology

Compare Persian سیر‎ (sir, “garlic”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsiɾ]
• Hyphenation: sir

Noun

sir m

1. garlic

References

• Initial SLLE Survey of the Zway Area by Klaus Wedekind and Charlotte Wedekind