squire
pronunciation
How to pronounce squire in British English:
UK [ˈskwaɪə(r)]
How to pronounce squire in American English:
US [ˈskwaɪər]
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- Noun:
- young nobleman attendant on a knight
- an English country landowner
- a man who attends or escorts a woman
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- Verb:
- attend upon as a squire; serve as a squire
Word Origin
- squire
- squire: [13] A squire is etymologically a ‘shieldcarrier’. The word was adapted from Old French esquier (which was later reborrowed into English as esquire [15]). This was descended from Latin scūtārius ‘shield-carrier’, a derivative of scūtum ‘shield’ (source also of English escutcheon [15]).=> escutcheon
- squire (v.)
- "to attend (a lady) as a gallant," late 14c., from squire (n.). Related: Squired; squiring.
- squire (n.)
- early 13c., "young man who attends a knight," later "member of the landowning class ranking below a knight" (c. 1300), from Old French esquier "squire," literally "shield carrier" (see esquire). Meaning "country gentleman, landed proprietor" is from 1670s; as a general term of address to a gentleman, it is attested from 1828.
Example
- 1. In canada it is illegal to leave your horse in front of the country squire without hitching it securely to the hitching post .
- 2. The rural poor depended on the charity of squire and parson , and the cavell children were expected , like their parents , to minister to them .
- 3. In fact the church was constructed in 1842 , and its architect was a woman , sarah losh , born in 1786 , daughter of the local squire .
- 4. Other correspondents and visitors to oates during these years were isaac newton and anthony collins , a young squire of the neighborhood , who afterwards made his mark in the intellectual controversies of the time .
- 5. Certainly parts of the narrative read like an 18th-century novel : at 17 , delany was married by her wicked uncle to a 60-year-old drunken squire , who tore her away from her family to live in a rotting cornish castle .