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Sir
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Sir is an honorific used as a title (see Knight) and in several other modern contexts.
It was once used (without the person's name) as a courtesy title among equals, but in common usage it is now usually reserved for one of superior rank or status, such as an educator or commanding officer, or in age (especially by a minor); as a form of address from a merchant to a customer; in formal correspondence (Dear Sir, Right Reverend Sir); or to a stranger (Sir, you've dropped your hat).
The equivalent for a woman when used as a term of address is "madam" or "ma'am".
ir derives from the Middle French honorific title sire (messire gave 'mylord'), from the Old French sieur (itself a contraction of Seigneur meaning 'lord'), from the Latin adjective senior (elder), which yielded titles of respect in many European languages.
The form sir entered English in 1297, as title of honor of a knight or baronet, being a variant of sire, which was already used in English since c.1205 as a title placed before a name and denoting knighthood, and to address the (male) Sovereign since c.1225, with additional general senses of "father, male parent" is from c.1250 and "important elderly man" from 1362.
ormal protocol Sir is the correct styling for a knight or a baronet (the UK nobiliary rank just below all Peers of the realm), used with (one of) the knight's given name(s) or full name, but not with the surname alone ("Sir James Paul McCartney", "Sir Paul McCartney", or "Sir Paul", but never "Sir McCartney").
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1429 Battle of Rouvray (or "of the Herrings"). English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army of William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk at Orléans from attack by the Comte de Clermont and John Stuart.
1429 Battle of Patay: French forces under Joan of Arc smash the English forces under Lord Talbot and Sir John Fastolf, forcing the withdrawal of the English from the Loire Valley.
1450 Battle of Formigny: French troops under the Comte de Clermont defeat an English army under Sir Thomas Kyriel and Sir Matthew Gough which was attempting to relieve Caen.
1450 Battle of Formigny: French troops under the Comte de Clermont defeat an English army under Sir Thomas Kyriel and Sir Matthew Gough which was attempting to relieve Caen.
1535 Sir Thomas More, author of Utopia and one time Lord Chancellor of England, is executed for treason by King Henry VIII after refusing to agree to Henrys' decision to separate the English church from the Roman Catholic church.
1580 Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe.
1586 St. Augustine, Florida, and Santo Domingo in the modern day Dominican Republic are plundered and burned by English sea captain Sir Francis Drake.
1632 Sir Francis Windebank made chief Secretary of State in England.
1660 At Gresham College, 12 men, including Christopher Wren, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, and Sir Robert Moray meet after a lecture by Wren and decide to found "a College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning}" (later known as the Royal Society).
1704 British forces under Sir George Rooke capture Gibraltar.
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Encyclopedia
Sir is an honorific used as a title (see Knight) and in several other modern contexts.
It was once used (without the person's name) as a courtesy title among equals, but in common usage it is now usually reserved for one of superior rank or status, such as an educator or commanding officer, or in age (especially by a minor); as a form of address from a merchant to a customer; in formal correspondence (Dear Sir, Right Reverend Sir); or to a stranger (Sir, you've dropped your hat).
The equivalent for a woman when used as a term of address is "madam" or "ma'am".
Origin
Sir derives from the Middle French honorific title sire (messire gave 'mylord'), from the Old French sieur (itself a contraction of Seigneur meaning 'lord'), from the Latin adjective senior (elder), which yielded titles of respect in many European languages.
The form sir entered English in 1297, as title of honor of a knight or baronet, being a variant of sire, which was already used in English since c.1205 as a title placed before a name and denoting knighthood, and to address the (male) Sovereign since c.1225, with additional general senses of "father, male parent" is from c.1250 and "important elderly man" from 1362.
Formal styling
In formal protocol Sir is the correct styling for a knight or a baronet (the UK nobiliary rank just below all Peers of the realm), used with (one of) the knight's given name(s) or full name, but not with the surname alone ("Sir James Paul McCartney", "Sir Paul McCartney", or "Sir Paul", but never "Sir McCartney"). The equivalent for a woman is Dame (for one who holds the title in her own right). The wife of a knight or baronet is however styled "Lady [Surname]" (e.g. "Lady McCartney", but never "Lady Heather McCartney", which is reserved for the daughter of a duke, marquess or earl).
In the case of a military officer who is also a knight, the appropriate form of address puts the professional military rank first, then the correct manner of address for the individual, then his or her name, e.g.,
This is also the case with academic titles such as professor:
With regard to British knighthood, a person who is not a citizen of a Commonwealth realm who receives an honorary knighthood is entitled to use any postnominal letters associated with the knighthood, but not the title "Sir".
Dual nationals holding a Commonwealth citizenship that recognise the British monarch as head of state are entitled to use the styling. Common usage varies from country to country: for instance, dual Bahamian-American citizen Sidney Poitier, knighted in 1974, is often styled "Sir Sidney Poitier", particularly in connection with his official ambassadorial duties, although he himself rarely employs the title.
Use in disciplined services
The common use of Sir instead of the rank specific address for a senior officer in a military, police or other hierarchical organisation is rather specific to English. In most languages, no such general address is considered respectful, or the two are combined, as in German Herr followed by the rank. In French the possessive pronoun mon precedes the rank, not unlike My Lord or Mein Führer.
"Sir", on its own, is sometimes used by schoolchildren to address a male teacher. It is common in British tabloid newspaper slang as a shorthand for 'schoolteacher': Sir's sex shame. Usage of "sir" commonly appears in schools in portions of the Southern United States.
When addressing a male superior (e.g. Officer or Warrant Officer, but not usually a non-commissioned officer, in the military), "sir" is used to replace his specific rank.
(Despite its use in many fictional works, this is not a term used for female superiors.) However, a United States Marine recruit addresses both commissioned and non-commissioned officers as "sir", especially drill instructors. Enlisted members of the United States Air Force always address superior non-commissioned officers--including Military Training Instructors--as "sir" and, in certain situations, even non-NCOs may be addressed as "sir", most often Senior Airmen (E-4s) serving as training leaders or instructors at technical schools.
Possibly the shortness of the word helps explain another idiomatic but non-official practice in American English: emphatically saying Sir both before and after an obedient response to the senior, especially during drill, e.g., "Sir, yes, sir!". This form of usage is not entirely exclusive to the United States Marine Corps; this is practiced by the US Coast Guard recruits. .
In both the United States Army and British Armed Forces, addressing an NCO as "Sir" is incorrect. In the British Army, however, an NCO is referred to as "sir" when an officer is on parade and warrant officers are addressed as "Sir".
In the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, only commissioned officers are addressed as "sir"; NCOs and constables are addressed by their rank. British police officers of the rank of Inspector or above are formally addressed as "Sir", but are more commonly addressed as "Boss", "Gaffer" or "Guv" (short for "governor") depending on the force (although more senior officers are invariably addressed as "Sir").
Miscellaneous
- Until the 17th century it was also a title of priests (the related word monsignor, from French monseigneur is still used for Catholic prelates). In Icelandic, the cognate word séra is used exclusively to address a priest, together with his first name: a priest called Jón Jónsson will be addressed as séra Jón and referred to as presturinn séra Jón Jónsson ("the priest, séra Jón Jónsson").
- Various persons in authority, e.g. District Judges in the United Kingdom, are also addressed as "sir".
- Sirrah was a 16th century derivative that implied the inferiority of the addressee.
- The informal forms sirree and siree are merely devised for emphasis in speech, mainly after Yes or No.
- Not to be confused with the now exclusively monarchical (i.e. royal) Sire, even though this has the same etymological root.
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