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sire

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Sire, siré, síre, síře, şire, šire, and šíře

English

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Etymology

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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, senyor, signore, and sir. Cognate with French monsieur.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /saɪə(ɹ)/
  • Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
  • Audio (UK):(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

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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.
  5. (fantasy) The vampire who turned another person.
    • 2010, Michelle Rowen, Bitten & Smitten‎[1], page 24:
      There is a toxin in a vampire’s fangs that will infect its victim when the sire drinks deeply and fully of their blood.
    • 2011, Nancy Holder, The Damned‎[2], page 7:
      Ever since Antonio’s escape from his sire in 1942, he had never been tempted to return to the vampire fold.
    • 2016, May Freighter, Russian Roulette‎[3], page 291:
      “She is my sire. I cannot defy her as long as she is more powerful than me.”
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:sire.

Coordinate terms

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  • (male animal): dam

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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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.
  2. (fantasy) To turn another person into a vampire.
    Synonyms: turn, vampirize
    • 2008, Yasmine Galenorn, Darkling‎[4], page 34:
      “Do you think they were wannabes, then? Groupies who found a willing vamp to sire them?”
    • 2009, Michelle Rowen, Stakes & Stilettos‎[5], page 53:
      He wondered if she regretted siring him. Or marrying him.
    • 2014, J. C. Diem, Death Conquers‎[6], page 33:
      I'd never sired another vampire before and I was at a loss of what to do with the rats.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:sire.

Translations

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Anagrams

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Danish

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Etymology

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From German zieren.

Verb

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sire

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

Derived terms

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References

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French

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Etymology

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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

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Noun

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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

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Italian

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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sire m (invariable)

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

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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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

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

References

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Old French

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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sire m

  1. nominative singular of sieur

Pali

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Alternative forms

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Alternative scripts

Noun

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sire

  1. locative singular of siras (“head”)

Noun

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sire

  1. vocative singular of sirā (“vein”)

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French sire.

Noun

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sire m (uncountable)

  1. sire

Declension

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Declension of sire
singular only indefinite definite
nominative-accusative sire sireul
genitive-dative sire sireului
vocative sireule

Serbo-Croatian

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Verb

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sire (Cyrillic spelling сире)

  1. third-person plural present of siriti

Slovene

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Noun

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sire

  1. accusative plural of sir
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