sire:
(plural: ‘sires‘; female sire: ‘dam’; for the right pronunciation of this word, please click here)
a medieval European sire
(old usage) father; forefather;
(old usage) a king; a lord;
(like the English title ‘sir’) a form of respectful address (title) of an important man in a community/society,
modern day sire
In the past people used to address a knight or baron ‘sire’, and the wife or daughter of a sire ‘dam’, ‘dame’ or ‘lady’.
Even in this present day we see some politicians and business bigwigs behave like the sires of the past, treating other people as commoners and issuing orders as if they owned the world.
Though the word ‘sire’ is old-fashioned and is not used to really address any man of importance, there are instances where the news media refer to some of the rich, arrogant men as ‘sires’ to actually insult them.
Note 2: ‘Sire’, always with a capital ‘S’, if often found in the names of people, e.g. Alibo Sires, James Sire, David Sire, etc. For an article that explains the origin of this word as a surname/family name/last name, please click here.
