sire

American  

[sahy^uhr] / saɪər /

noun

• sires
  plural

1. the male parent of a quadruped.

2. a respectful term of address, now used only to a male sovereign.

3. Archaic.

   1. a father or forefather.

   2. a person of importance or in a position of authority, as a lord.

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verb (used with object)

• sires,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sired,
  past participle,  past
• siring
  present participle

1. to beget; procreate as the father.

sire British  

/ saɪə /

noun

1. a male parent, esp of a horse or other domestic animal

2. a respectful term of address, now used only in addressing a male monarch

3. obsolete a man of high rank

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verb

1. (tr) (esp of a domestic animal) to father; beget

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sireless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sires
  plural

Participles

• siring
  present
• sired
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sire
  simple
• sires
  simple
• have sired
  perfect
• has sired
  perfect
• am siring
  progressive
• are siring
  progressive
• is siring
  progressive
• have been siring
  perfect progressive
• has been siring
  perfect progressive

Past

• sired
  simple
• had sired
  perfect
• was siring
  progressive
• were siring
  progressive
• had been siring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sire
  simple
• will have sired
  perfect
• will be siring
  progressive
• will have been siring
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of sire

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French (nominative singular) < Vulgar Latin *seior, for Latin senior senior (compare French monsieur originally, my lord, with sieur < *seiōr-, oblique stem of *seior )

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Explanation

A sire is an animal's father. A newborn foal might look very much like his sire, with a white stripe on his brown face. Every once in a while, the word sire is used for a human — your dad is your sire — but it's much more common to find this word describing an animal's male parent. It's also a verb, meaning "to father," as in "My prize pig sires the cutest piglets." In the old days, you'd also use sire to directly address a nobleman or a king. It comes from the Latin word senior, "elder."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sire sires sired siring

Those who doubt So Happy point to his breeding: His sire, Runhappy, was a champion sprinter not known for producing horses who can run more than a mile.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2026

Three years on, the Purosangue remains an astonishing presence on any street, a provocation, an outrage, a moral panic—indeed, sire, very like a Ferrari.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026

Green and gold colours of owner JP McManus look more likely to succeed elsewhere, although there is a breeding positive - Chantry House's sire Yeats was also dad to 2022 National winner Noble Yeats.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2025

The average breeding-purebred male dog, called a sire, will father more than 100 puppies.

From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2023

“I have done things I am not proud of, things that brought shame onto my House and my father’s name... but to kill your own sire? How could any man do that?”

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

The mare was sired by Northern Dancer, the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby in 1964 who went on to become one of the sport’s greatest sires.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 6, 2023

He will join Dubawi, Frankel and Into Mischief among the most valuable sires in horse racing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2022

Rickard said this compared to recently frozen semen from 19 sires used to inseminate 1,048 ewes, of which 618 were successfully impregnated.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 18, 2019

Oatley and his colleagues are now working to develop surrogate pig sires.

From Nature ● Mar. 13, 2019

Whatever their sires or their grandsires might have been back in Westeros before their exile, the men of the Golden Company were sellswords now, and no sellsword could be trusted.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

On his deathbed, however, he had a change of heart and left his fortune to the creation of a refuge for children like the one he sired and abandoned.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025

It was first top-level Group One winner to be sired by 2015 Derby winner Golden Horn.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2025

Baffert’s influence can also be found in the breeding for this race with six having been sired by horses that Baffert has trained.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2025

Mouse pups sired by dysbiotic fathers showed significantly lower birth weights and an increased rate of postnatal mortality.

From Science Daily ● May 1, 2024

He looked as if his father had sired him on a fish, but he still wore a longsword.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

It claimed he established a secret guerilla headquarters on the forested slopes, siring his son there between battles with the Japanese.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 10, 2023

Paramount Global has created numerous spin-offs of its main cable channels, with Nickelodeon siring five programming offspring, Nick Jr., Nick at Nite, TeenNick, Nicktoons and Nick Music.

From Reuters ● Sep. 14, 2023

Gun Runner, another horse of the year who is proving himself as a stallion, siring this year’s entrants Taiba and Cyberknife, finished third in 2016.

From New York Times ● May 7, 2022

There would likely still have been a sectarian power struggle over a weakened state, siring a civil war and brewing regional tensions.

From Slate ● Mar. 27, 2018

But Louie, the instant her uncle stopped, broke into a siring of questions, shrill and breathless, her face quite white, her eyes glittering.

From The History of David Grieve by Mrs. Humphry Ward

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