Dictionary.com
definitions

sire

[sahyuh r]
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sire ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the male parent of a quadruped.
a respectful term of address, now used only to a male sovereign.
Archaic.
  1. a father or forefather.
  2. a person of importance or in a position of authority, as a lord.

verb (used with object), sired, sir·ing.

to beget; procreate as the father.

RELATED CONTENT

“Sir” and “madam” are shorter versions of what older, fancier terms?Let’s say you want to get the attention of a male clerk in the produce section of the grocery store. Would you say, “Excuse me sire, but could you please explain the difference between a yam and a sweet potato?” (For the answer to that question, read this.) Addressing a stranger as “sire” might raise an eyebrow. But if you said it, you wouldn’t necessarily …
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

multiply, proliferate, inseminate, spawn, breed, propagate, hatch, create, generate, engender, sire, organize, devise, discover, invent, constitute, shape, design, establish, make

Nearby words

  1. sir-reverence,
  2. sirach,
  3. siracusa,
  4. siraj-ud-daula,
  5. sirdar,
  6. siree,
  7. siren,
  8. sirena,
  9. sirenian,
  10. sirenic

Origin of sire

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French (nominative singular) < Vulgar Latin *seior, for Latin senior senior (compare French monsieur orig., my lord, with sieur < *seiōr-, oblique stem of *seior)
Related formssire·less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sired

British Dictionary definitions for sired

sire

noun

a male parent, esp of a horse or other domestic animal
a respectful term of address, now used only in addressing a male monarch
obsolete a man of high rank

verb

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

Word Origin for sire

C13: from Old French, from Latin senior an elder, from senex an old man
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for sired
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper