sir

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.

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

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɹ/
• (India) IPA^(key): /saː(ɾ)/, /sə(ɾ)/
  • (Tamil) IPA^(key): /sæ(ɾ)/
• (unstressed form) IPA^(key): /sə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

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

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!

• 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)}

• “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.

• Sri, IRS, RSI, ISR, IRs, Isr., R.I.S., RIs, SRI, R. I. S., RIS

• IPA^(key): /siɾ/, [ʃiɾ]

sir (Kana spelling シㇼ)

1. appearance
2. earth
3. land, mountain

• ⿰⿳⿰SIR木阝 — humorous

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 [Jyutping]  ―  Mr. Chan

   • (Can we date this quote?), 夏雨田, 黄俊英, 借电话‎^[1]:

     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 [Jyutping]

     I hear that Mr. Tam on the 3rd floor and Mr. Chau on the fourth floor have already applied [for telephone installation].

• 阿Sir

• IPA^(key): /ʃɪɾʲ/

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.

sir

1. Alternative form of sire

Unadapted borrowing from English sir.

sir m (uncountable)

1. sir

From Old Irish sirid (“to traverse, seek”). Cognate with Manx shirr.

sir (past shir, future siridh, verbal noun sireadh, past participle sirte)

1. seek, search, look for

   Synonym: lorg

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

• IPA^(key): /sîr/

sȉr m (Cyrillic spelling си̏р)

1. cheese

• sȋrnī

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

• IPA^(key): /sír/

• Audio:

  (file)

sȉr m inan

1. cheese

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.

Masculine inan., hard o-stem
nom. sing.	sìr
gen. sing.	síra
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	sìr	síra	síri
genitive (rodȋlnik)	síra	sírov	sírov
dative (dajȃlnik)	síru	síroma	sírom
accusative (tožȋlnik)	sìr	síra	síre
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	síru	sírih	sírih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	sírom	síroma	síri

• síriti

• “sir”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2024

Borrowed from Russian сыр (syr).

sir (plural sirlar)

1. cheese

pishloq

Borrowed from Arabic سِرّ (sirr).

sir (plural sirlar)

1. secret

Borrowed from Middle English shire.^[1]

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

sir f (plural siroedd, not mutable)

1. county, shire

   Synonym: swydd

• sirol (“relating to a county”)

Cognate to Silt'e [script needed] (sa:r).

sir

1. grass

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

Compare Persian سیر (sir, “garlic”).

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

sir

1. garlic