See also: Sire, siré, síre, síře, şire, šire, and šíře

English edit

Etymology edit

From Middle English sire, from Old French sire, the nominative singular of seignor; from Latin senior, from senex. Doublet of seigneur, seignior, senhor, senior, señor, signore, and sir. Cognate with French monsieur.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /saɪə(ɹ)/
  • Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
  • (file)
 
As King of England, William III would be addressed as Your Majesty or sire.
 
Darley Arabian, one of the foundation sires of the thoroughbred breed of horse.

Noun edit

sire (plural sires)

  1. A lord, master, or other person in authority, most commonly used vocatively: formerly in speaking to elders and superiors, later only when addressing a sovereign.
  2. A male animal that has fathered a particular offspring (especially used of domestic animals and/or in biological research).
  3. (obsolete) A father; the head of a family; the husband.
    • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, []”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 154, column 1:
      He but a Duke, would haue his Sonne a King, / And raiſe his iſſue like a louing Sire.
    • 1807, [Germaine] de Staël Holstein, translated by D[ennis] Lawler, “[Book I. Oswald.] Chapter I.”, in Corinna; or, Italy. [], volume I, London: [] Corri, []; and sold by Colburn, [], and Mackenzie, [], →OCLC, pages 5–6:
      Sometimes, also, he reproached himself, for abandoning those abodes where his father had dwelt. “Who knows,” said he to himself, “whether the shades of the departed are allowed to pursue, every where, the objects of their affection? Perhaps it is only permitted them to wander about the spot where their ashes repose! Perhaps in this moment does the spirit of my sire regret the absence of his son, while distance prevents my hearing his voice, exerted to recall me.[”]
  4. (obsolete) A creator; a maker; an author; an originator.

Coordinate terms edit

  • (male animal): dam

Derived terms edit

Translations edit

Verb edit

sire (third-person singular simple present sires, present participle siring, simple past and past participle sired)

  1. (transitive, of a male) To father; to beget.

Translations edit

Anagrams edit

Danish edit

Etymology edit

From German zieren.

Verb edit

sire

  1. (archaic) adorn
  2. (archaic, by extension, especially in the passive participle) endow with a favorable quality

Derived terms edit

References edit

French edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Old French sire (nominative form), from Vulgar Latin *seior (used as a term of address), a contracted form of Latin senior (compare French seigneur, derived from the accusative form), perhaps influenced by maior. Doublet of seigneur, senior, and sieur.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

sire m (plural sires)

  1. (obsolete) sire (term of respect) (Still used in at least partly French-speaking kingdoms such as Belgium or Canada as a form of address to the sovereign)
  2. (obsolete) lord

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Italian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Old French sire. See also sere. Doublet of signore.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈsi.re/
  • Rhymes: -ire
  • Hyphenation: sì‧re

Noun edit

sire m (invariable)

  1. king, monarch (only when addressing a sovereign)
    Synonyms: re, sovrano, monarca, maestà

Anagrams edit

Middle English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Old French sire, nominative singular of seignor, from Latin senior. Doublet of senyour.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈsiːr(ə)/, /ˈsir(ə)/, /ˈsɛr(ə)/

Noun edit

sire (plural sires)

  1. Used preceding the name or title of a knight, noble, or cleric.
  2. A respectful term of address for a noble or gentleman.
  3. A noble or lord; one of high station.
  4. A husband as the head of a household.
  5. A father as one's progenitor.

Descendants edit

  • English: sir; sire
  • Scots: sir; sire

References edit

Old French edit

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

sire m

  1. nominative singular of sieur

Pali edit

Alternative forms edit

Noun edit

sire

  1. locative singular of siras (head)

Noun edit

sire

  1. vocative singular of sirā (vein)

Romanian edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from French sire.

Noun edit

sire m (uncountable)

  1. sire

Declension edit

Serbo-Croatian edit

Verb edit

sire (Cyrillic spelling сире)

  1. third-person plural present of siriti

Slovene edit

Noun edit

sire

  1. accusative plural of sir