▪ I. sire, n.
(saɪə(r))
Forms: α. 3– sire, 4–5 sir, 6 sier; 4 scire, 7 shire. β. 3–8 syre, 5 cyre, cyyr, syr, syar, 5–6 syer.
[a. OF. sire (cyre), for earlier *sieire:—pop. L. *seior, for cl. L. senior senior. The oblique case in OF. was sieur:—*seiōr-em for seniōr-em.]
I. † 1. Placed before personal names: a. Denoting knighthood. = sir n. 1. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 22485 Wulcume sire Arður, wilcume lauerd. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9066 Sire geffray, þat was erl of aungeo. c 1330 Amis & Amil. 44 He was callid Syre Amys..at his crystenyng. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 305 Þe firste ȝere of þe comynge of sire John, þe secounde kyng Henricus his sone, into Irlond. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. xxix. i. 37 Þus sone Sire Rollo..Bi-sette þat Citee. 1492 Paston Lett. III. 380 To my..frendes, Sire William Knevette, Sire John Paston, Sire Robert Clere, Knyghtes. |
| transf. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. x. 1 Sire Dowel dwelleþ..not a day hennes, In a Castel. Ibid. 19 Sire seowel and seywel,..And sire Godfrei Gowel, grete lordes alle. |
† b. Applied to persons of ancient history, or to ecclesiastics: cf. sir n. 2 and 4. Obs.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 21 Þe Erchebischope of Caunterburi sire Ode. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2009 To þis senatour..Sire maximian. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 785 Sire Eneas was þer-of fayn. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 192 And þanne strumpatis & þeuys preisen sire iacke or hobbe & williem þe proude clerk. a 1400 Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 407 A frenche romance that sire Robert, Bisschope a lycoln, made. |
† 2. With common nouns, = sir n. 6. Obs.
| (a) c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 15 ‘Sire Aumperour,’ he seide. a 1300 Havelok 2861 Sire erl,.. And þou wile mi consayl tro, Ful wel shal ich with þe do. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 837 Sire knyght, quod he, my mayster and my lord. c 1400 Brut lvi. 50 Þerfore, sire kyng,..we bene comen into ȝoure lande. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop v. ix, Syre kynge god yeue good helthe. c 1500 Melusine 264 ‘By my feyth, sire knight,’ said geffray. |
| (b) c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 840 And ye sire clerk lat be your shamefastnesse. ― Nun's Pr. Prol. 26 Wherfore sire Monk daun Piers by youre name I pray yow [etc.]. Ibid. 44 (Corpus), Come ner sire prest com hider sir Iohn. |
† b. = sir n. 6 b. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 242 Sire [v.r. Sir] olde lecchour, lat thy Iapes be. c 1500 Melusine 28 By my feyth, sire vassal, hit commeth to you of grette pryde [etc.]. Ibid. 29 Sire musarde. |
3. Without following n. In early use = sir n. 7. Now only arch. (= ‘your majesty’) or as an echo of French usage.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 52 Me leoue sire,..is hit nu so ouer vuel uor te toten utward? c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 49 ‘A, sire,’ quath þe luþere Quiene,..‘Furst ichulle to þe drinke’. 13.. K. Alis. 2099 (W.), A knyght com sone rennyng, And saide, ‘Sire, up on hast!’ 1390 Gower Conf. III. 301 ‘Ha, lieve sire,’ tho quod sche, ‘Now tak the harpe’. 1470–85 Malory Arthur vii. xviii. 240 Sire said the reed knyght..al this wil I do as ye commaunde. c 1500 Melusine 267 Sire, the kyng is departed from hens. [1672 Temple Ess., Government Wks. 1720 I. 100 The peculiar Compellation of the King in France, is by the Name of Sire.] 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ. (1778) I. 3 By heaven! Sire, it is not well done. 1820 Shelley Œd. Tyr. i. 71 Your sacred Majesty... They are in waiting, Sire. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. II. 357 ‘Sire,’ said he, ‘there has been a battle before Pavia’. |
† b. = sir n. 7 b. Obs.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 2248 Herkenes nowe, hende sires, ȝe han herd ofte, wich a cri has be cried. a 1375 Lay-Folks Mass-Bk. App. iv. 257 Certes, sires; ful good hit is To stonde stille at þe Mes. c 1412 Hoccleve Reg. Princ. 2747 Considereth, sires, I am oon of þo [etc.]. 1426 Audelay Poems (Percy Soc.) 6 Gentyl sires, herkene to me. c 1500 Melusine 271 After, after, fayre sires. |
† c. = sir n. 7 c. Obs.
| 1426 Paston Lett. I. 24. 1490 Ibid. III. 363. |
II. 4. One who exercises dominion or rule; a lord, master, or sovereign. In ME. freq. in phrase lord and sire. Now rare or Obs.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6556 He wende aboute as noble sire fram londe to londe. a 1300 Cursor M. 440 He..sette him heist in his hall, Als prince and sire ouer oþer all. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1260 Þay..Þat sumtyme sete in her sale syres & burdes. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 217 This yonglynge..aftyr be-came a grete Sire in the realme. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 42 And sa was Romulus all hale lord and syre. 1513 Douglas æneid ix. iv. 58 Soupyt in wyne and sleip [are] baith man and syre. c 1586 Sidney Ps. xviii. iv, Then thundred heav'nly sire. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 780 Podagra..quietly laid herself down at the feet of this corsie sire. 1812 Shelley Devil's Walk xxviii, With delight its Sire to see Hell's adamantine limits burn. |
† b. A lord or ruler of a specified place. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22256 A king..þat of þe romain sal Impire Hali lauerd be and sire. 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 14 In Charlemayn courte, sire of Saynt Dinys. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 250 Of thilke Empire He was coroned Lord and Sire. 1415 Hoccleve To Sir J. Oldcastle 265 Almighty god thow lord of al, and Syre. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 25 Where is Pirrus, that was lord and sire Of Ynd? 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1491 Syrus, that soleme syar of Babylon. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 217 For his reward.., Of tha landis tha maid him lord and syre. |
5. A person of some note or importance; an aged or elderly man. Also generally, man, fellow.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 62 Nou is vche boye bold broþel an oþer, To talken of þe Trinite to beon holden a syre. c 1440 Ipomydon 1643 He semyd a fole, that queynte syre, Bothe by hede and by atyre. a 1500 Debate of the Carpenter's tools 241 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 88 The wymbulle spekes lyke a syre. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 145 Fra sic a syre, God ȝow saif, my sueit sisteris deir! 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. iv. 32 That maliciouse and crafty olde syre. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 388 Our men, regarding his age, began to make much of him;..whereat the old sier showed himselfe very glad. 1630 Tincker of Turvey 41 This smith was a quaint sire, As merry as bird on brier. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 715 At length a Reverend Sire among them came. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 688 To name an infant meet our village sires. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles v. xxiv, ‘What says the monk?’—‘The holy Sire Owns, that..She sought his skiff.’ |
6. A father; a male parent; also, a forefather. (Cf. grandsire 1.) Now chiefly poet.
| c 1250 Lutel Soth Serm. 81 in O.E. Misc. 190 Hire sire and hire dame þreteþ hire to bete. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. Prol. 189, I herde my sire seyn..Þere þe catte is a kitoun, þe courte is ful elyng. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 2492 (Phyllis), Fals in loue was he rygh as his syre. c 1400 Destr. Troy 13198 Þat noble he stale Fro the souerain hir Syre, & soght with hir furth. 14.. Sir Beues 1283 + 244 He made a fyre And threwe þer yn dam & syre. 1566 Painter Pal. Pleas. I. 4 Whose sire was the old earl of Bedford. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 64 Pyrrhus shortlye wyl hither, Thee soon fast bye the syre, thee syre that murthred at altars. 1674 Milton P.R. i. 86 His Mother then is mortal, but his Sire He who obtains the Monarchy of Heav'n. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 282 Nor be with harmful Parsimony won To follow what our homely Sires have done. 1742 Gray Adversity 9 When first thy Sire to send on earth Virtue, his darling Child, design'd. 1791 Cowper Iliad ii. 57 The sceptre of his sires he took. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles ii. xxxii, In distant ages, sire to son Shall tell thy tale of freedom won. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. iii. 177 My sire the daughter gave him and the government. |
| attrib. and Comb. a 1835 Motherwell Poet. Wks. (1847) 10 'Tis Harold—'tis the Sire-bereaved—Who goads the dread career. a 1849 J. C. Mangan Poems (1859) 442 Shame to me,..my sire-land, Not to know thy soil and skies! |
b. fig. and transf.
| 1718 Prior The Flies, Sire of Insects, mighty Sol. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 674 Profusion is the sire. 1821 Shelley Adonais iv, He died, Who was the Sire of an immortal strain. 1871 Earle Philol. Eng. Tongue vi. 245 The venerable sire of Gothic philology, Jacob Grimm. |
7. A male parent of a quadruped; esp. a stallion. Correlative to dam.
| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §68 She shall haue moste comonly a sandy colte,..neyther lyke syre nor damme. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 54 Beastes haue no other care of their yong ones, but onely..vntill they bee able to feede..themselues: afterward, both syre and damme and little ones forget one another. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 229 The Pharsalian Mores evermore bring Foals very like their Syre. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. i. 32 So Kids and Whelps their Sires and Dams express. 1733 Pope Ess. Man iii. 126 Thus beast and bird their common charge attend; The mothers nurse it, and the sires defend. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 423 Although both sire and dam may possess some good points, yet in the offspring these will be lost. 1859 Jephson Brittany iii. 30 They must not feed their sires upon straw. |
| transf. 1780 Cowper Progr. Err. 568 The mind and conduct..: Each, sire and dam of an infernal race, Begetting and conceiving all that's base. |
▪ II. sire, v.
(saɪə(r))
Also 6 syre.
[f. sire n.]
trans. To beget or procreate; to become the sire of: a. Of persons, or in general use.
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iv. ii. 26 Cowards father Cowards, & Base things Syre Bace. 1835 Longfellow Outre-mer Prose Wks. 1886 I. 119 He was a gross, corpulent fellow,..sired by a comic actor. 1891 Zangwill Bachelors Club 82 His father had just that measure of talent which so often sires a genius. |
| transf. 1902 O. Wister Virginian xiv, The blamed thing was sired by a whole doggone Dutch syndicate. |
b. spec. Of animals, esp. horses. (The more frequent use.)
| 1828–32 in Webster. 1882 Pall Mall G. 1 July 6/2 These also are animals with rare pedigrees... Several are sired by Kisber. 1894 Sir J. D. Astley 50 Years Life II. 190 He sired some real good hunters. |
▪ III. sire
obs. variant of Sc. syre, drain.