Sir is an honorific address used as a courtesy title to address a man without using his given or family name in many English speaking cultures. It is often used in formal correspondence (Dear Sir, Right Reverend Sir).
The term is often reserved for use only towards one of superior rank or status, such as an educator or commanding officer, an elder (especially by a minor), or as a form of address from a merchant to a customer.
Equivalent terms of address are "ma'am" or "madam" in most cases, or in the case of a very young woman, girl, or unmarried woman who prefers to be addressed as such, "miss". The equivalent term for a knighted woman is Dame, or "Lady" for the wife of a knight.
Read more about Sir: Origin, Formal Styling, Use in Disciplined Services, Formal Use in Sports, Miscellaneous
Other articles related to "sir":
... king jousted with a knight of Hainault, Sir John Destrenne, for the prize of a clasp of precious stones, taken off from the bosom of the Duchess of Burgundy it was won by Sir ... end of the century, until the most common number was five, as in the duel between Sir Thomas Harpenden and Messire Jean des Barres, at Montereau sur Yonne in 1387 (cinq lances a cheval, cinq coups d'épée, cinq ... the joust were run without decisive outcome, but in the fifth Sir Thomas was unhorsed and lost consciousness ...
... Like other knights, Knights Bachelor are styled "Sir" ... However, when the style "Sir" is awkward or incomplete due to a subsequent appointment, recipients may sometimes use the word "Knight" or "Kt" (note the lowercase 't', which ... Sir William Boulton, Bt, Kt) ...
... Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE (born 7 March 1952) is a former West Indian cricketer ... Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs and Shane Warne ... as well as the third greatest Test batsman of all time, after Sir Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar ...
... Dr Isaac Watts – Dr Watts' Walk, Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, London Sir Robert Peel – Market Place, Bury Horatio, Viscount Nelson – on Nelson's Column ... Thomas Bewick – Literary Philosophical Society, Newcastle upon Tyne Sir James Knott – as above George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont – St.Mary's, Petworth, Sussex Charles, 2nd Earl ...
... the brother of author and critic Sir Leslie Stephen, the uncle of author Virginia Woolf, and cousin of jurist A.V ... He was already acquainted with Sir Henry Maine, six years his senior, and then newly appointed to the Chair of civil law at Cambridge ... developer of classical electromagnetic theory James Clerk Maxwell and Liberal Party leader Sir William Harcourt ...
Famous quotes containing the word sir:
“From alle wymmen mi love is lent
And lyht on Alysoun.”
—Unknown. Alison. . .
Oxford Book of English Verse, The, 1250–1918. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. (New ed., rev. and enl., 1939)
“There are a sort of men whose visages
Do cream and mantle like a standing pond,
And do a willful stillness entertain,
With purpose to be dressed in an opinion
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit,
As who should say, “I am Sir Oracle,
And when I ope my lips let no dog bark!””
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)