Sir

From Free net encyclopedia

Sir is an English honorary title representing knighthood or baronetcy. It remains the proper form of addressing a knight or a baronet.

It derives from the Middle English sire, from the French sieur, meaning lord, from the Latin adjective senior (elder), which yielded titles of respect in many European languages.

Sir is used in several 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 stature, 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 is madam.

1 Formal styling
2 Military use
3 Miscellaneous
4 Homonym
5 Reference

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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 the knight's given name or full name, but not with the surname alone (Sir Paul McCartney or Sir Paul, not 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).

With regard to British knighthood, a person who is not a subject of the British monarch (i.e. a citizen of a non-Commonwealth country) who receives an honorary knighthood is not entitled to use this style (e.g. Alan Greenspan, KBE, not Sir Alan Greenspan). Dual nationals holding a Commonwealth citizenship that recognises the British monarch as head of state are entitled to use the styling, although 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.

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Military use

The common use of Sir instead of the rank specific address for a military, police or other officer 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 Monsignor.

When addressing a superior (Officer, not an NCO), "sir" is used to replace his specific rank. Yet a United States Marine recruit and a U.S. Air Force trainee address both a commissioned officer and a non-commissoned officer as Sir, especially a drill instructor or other Military Training Instructor.

Possibly the shortness of the word helps explain another, in a sense compensating, idiomatic but non-official practice in English: emphatically saying Sir both in front and behind an obedient response in clear voice to the senior, especially during drill, e.g. 'Sir, yes, sir!'

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Miscellaneous

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 monrachicla (e.g.royal) Sire, even though this has the same etymological root.

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