sir

/serr/, n.

1. a respectful or formal term of address used to a man: No, sir.

2. (cap.) the distinctive title of a knight or baronet: Sir Walter Scott.

3. (cap.) a title of respect for some notable personage of ancient times: Sir Pandarus of Troy.

4. a lord or gentleman: noble sirs and ladies.

5. an ironic or humorous title of respect: sir critic.

6. Archaic. a title of respect used before a noun to designate profession, rank, etc.: sir priest; sir clerk.

[1250-1300; ME; unstressed var. of SIRE]

* * *

(as used in expressions)

Abbott Sir John Joseph Caldwell

Ahmad Khan Sir Sayyid

Allbutt Sir Thomas Clifford

Alma Tadema Sir Lawrence

Amis Sir Kingsley William

Andros Sir Edmund

Arkwright Sir Richard

Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine

Attenborough Sir David Frederick

Ayckbourn Sir Alan

Ayer Sir Alfred Jules

Banerjea Sir Surendranath

Banks Sir Joseph

Bannister Sir Roger Gilbert

Banting Sir Frederick Grant

Barrie Sir James Matthew

Bartlett Sir Frederic Charles

Barton Sir Derek Harold Richard

Bax Sir Arnold Edward Trevor

Bayliss Sir William Maddock

Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy

Beecham Sir Thomas

Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian

Bentham Sir Samuel

Berkeley Sir William

Berlin Sir Isaiah

Bessemer Sir Henry

Betjeman Sir John

Bing Sir Rudolf

Birtwistle Sir Harrison Paul

Black Sir James Whyte

Blackstone Sir William

Bliss Sir Arthur Edward Drummond

Bogarde Sir Dirk

Borden Sir Frederick William

Borden Sir Robert Laird

Bowman Sir William

Bragg Sir William Henry

Brook Sir Peter Stephen Paul

Browne Sir Thomas

Brunel Sir Marc Isambard

Burne Jones Sir Edward Coley

Burnet Sir Frank Macfarlane

Burt Sir Cyril Lodowic

Burton Sir Richard Francis

Campbell Bannerman Sir Henry

Carteret Sir George

Cartier Sir George Étienne Baronet

Casement Sir Roger David

Cayley Sir George

Chain Sir Ernst Boris

Chamberlain Sir Joseph Austen

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin

Cheke Sir John

Cheyne Sir William Watson

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer

Clinton Sir Henry

Cockburn Sir Alexander James Edmund 10th Baronet

Coke Sir Edward

Conan Doyle Sir Arthur

Connery Sir Sean

Corrigan Sir Dominic John

Cotton Sir Robert Bruce

Coward Sir Noë l Peirce

Craig Sir James Henry

Cripps Sir Richard Stafford

Crowe Sir Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart

Cunard Sir Samuel 1st Baronet

Currie Sir Arthur William

Davenant Sir William

Davies Sir Peter Maxwell

Davis Sir Colin Rex

Davy Sir Humphry

De Havilland Sir Geoffrey

Dewar Sir James

Dilke Sir Charles Wentworth 2nd Baronet

Dolin Sir Anton

Douglas Sir James

Drake Sir Francis

Dummett Sir Michael Anthony Eardley

Eddington Sir Arthur Stanley

Elgar Sir Edward William

Empson Sir William

Epstein Sir Jacob

Etherege Sir George

Evans Sir Arthur John

Evans Pritchard Sir Edward Evan

Fairbairn Sir William

Fisher Sir Ronald Aylmer

Fleming Sir Alexander

Fortescue Sir John

Frazer Sir James George

Frobisher Sir Martin

Frost Sir David Paradine

Galt Sir Alexander Tilloch

Galton Sir Francis

Galway Sir James

Gielgud Sir Arthur John

Gilbert Sir Humphrey

Gilbert Sir William Schwenck

Golding Sir William Gerald

Gollancz Sir Victor

Gorges Sir Ferdinando

Gosse Sir Edmund

Grenfell Sir Wilfred Thomason

Grey Sir Edward 3rd Baronet

Grierson Sir George Abraham

Grove Sir George

Guinness de Cuffe Sir Alec

Gull Sir William Withey

Guthrie Sir William Tyrone

Haggard Sir Henry Rider

Hale Sir Matthew

Haley Sir William John

Hall Sir James

Hall Sir Peter Reginald Frederick

Harden Sir Arthur

Harris Sir Arthur Travers 1st Baronet

Harrison Sir Rex

Hawkins Sir John

Heath Sir Edward Richard George

Helpmann Sir Robert Murray

Hicks Sir John Richard

Hillary Sir Edmund Percival

Hitchcock Sir Alfred

Hopkins Sir Anthony

Hopkins Sir Frederick Gowland

Hoyle Sir Fred

Hughes Sir Samuel

Huxley Sir Julian Sorell

Iqbal Sir Muhammad

Irving Sir Henry

Jameson Sir Leander Starr

Jeans Sir James Hopwood

Jeffreys Sir Harold

John Sir Elton Hercules

Johnson Sir William 1st Baronet

Jones Sir William

Kendrew Sir John Cowdery

Korda Sir Alexander

Krebs Sir Hans Adolf

LaFontaine Sir Louis Hippolyte Baronet

Landseer Sir Edwin Henry

Laurier Sir Wilfrid

Lean Sir David

Liddell Hart Sir Basil Henry

Lipton Sir Thomas Johnstone

Littleton Sir Thomas

Lovell Sir Alfred Charles Bernard

Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer

Lyell Sir Charles

Macdonald Sir John Alexander

Mackenzie Sir Alexander

Mackenzie Sir Edward Montague Compton

Mackenzie Sir James

MacMillan Sir Kenneth

Maine Sir Henry James Sumner

Malory Sir Thomas

Mandeville Sir John

Maxim Sir Hiram Stevens

McCartney Sir James Paul

McKellen Sir Ian Murray

Medawar Sir Peter Brian

Menzies Sir Robert Gordon

Millais Sir John Everett

Morgan Sir Henry

Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald 6th Baronet

Murray Sir James Augustus Henry

Naipaul Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad

Newton Sir Isaac

Nolan Sir Sidney

Nurse Sir Paul M.

Osler Sir William

Paget Sir James

Parsons Sir Charles Algernon

Peel Sir Robert 2nd Baronet

Petrie Sir William Matthew Flinders

Petty Sir William

Pevsner Sir Nikolaus

Pinero Sir Arthur Wing

Pollock Sir Frederick 3rd Baronet

Popper Sir Karl Raimund

Poynings Sir Edward

Pride Sir Thomas

Pringle Sir John

Pritchett Sir Victor Sawdon

Quiller Couch Sir Arthur Thomas

Raeburn Sir Henry

Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford

Raleigh Sir Walter

Raman Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata

Rattigan Sir Terence Mervyn

Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore

Reed Sir Carol

Reynolds Sir Joshua

Richardson Sir Ralph David

Roberts Sir Charles George Douglas

Ross Sir Ronald

Ross Sir William David

Ryle Sir Martin

Sabine Sir Edward

Scott Sir Peter Markham

Scott Sir Walter 1st Baronet

Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry

Sherrington Sir Charles Scott

Sidney Sir Philip

Siemens Sir Charles William

Simpson Sir James Young

Soane Sir John

Solti Sir Georg

Sopwith Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch

Spender Sir Stephen Harold

Stanley Sir Henry Morton

Steele Sir Richard

Stephen Sir James Fitzjames 1st Baronet

Stephen Sir Leslie

Stirling Sir James Frazer

Stoppard Sir Tom

Suckling Sir John

Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour

Swan Sir Joseph Wilson

Taylor Sir Geoffrey Ingram

Temple Sir William

Tenniel Sir John

Thomson Sir Joseph John

Tippett Sir Michael Kemp

Tree Sir Herbert Draper Beerbohm

Tutu Sir Desmond Mpilo

Tylor Sir Edward Burnett

Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander

Van Dyck Sir Anthony

Vanbrugh Sir John

Vane Sir Henry

Sir Henry Vane the Younger

Wallace William Sir

Wallis Sir Barnes Neville

Walpole Sir Hugh Seymour

Walsingham Sir Francis

Walton Sir William Turner

Watson Watt Sir Robert Alexander

Welensky Sir Roy

Whittle Sir Frank

Whitworth Sir Joseph

Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville

Wren Sir Christopher

Wright Sir Almroth Edward

Sir Thomas

Younghusband Sir Francis Edward

Bulwer Sir William Henry Lytton Earle

Douglas Home Sir Alec

Hoare Sir Samuel John Gurney 2nd Baronet

* * *