squireen

American  

[skwahy-reen] / skwaɪˈrin /

noun

Chiefly Irish English.

1. the landowner of a small estate; a squire of a small domain.

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squireen British  

/ ˈskwaɪəlɪŋ, skwaɪˈriːn /

noun

1. rare a petty squire

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Etymology

Origin of squireen

1800–10; squire + -een diminutive suffix < Irish -ín

Example Sentences

Mr Gillooly, I may remark, was a friend of my grandfather’s, a squireen, with a mansion of similar description to Rincurran Castle, though somewhat less dilapidated.

From Ben Burton Born and Bred at Sea by Webb, Archibald

Had, for instance, Economy changed with Generosity, and gone to the poor lieutenant's wife, and had I lodged with the Irish squireen instead of Hospitality, what misfortunes would have been saved to both!

From The Pilgrims of the Rhine by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

But even this description implies a wholly wrong emphasis, for he was not primarily a soldier, but a small landowner and cultivator, very much what we should call a squireen.

From Progress and History by Marvin, Francis Sydney

What would be more likely to stimulate a coarse illiterate squireen than the aspect of such a living paradox as this?

From My Lords of Strogue, Vol. I (of III) A Chronicle of Ireland, from the Convention to the Union by Wingfield, Lewis

The game had been played successfully and was over—the squireen of Knebworth, the self-styled descendant of the Vikings, had founded a family and hooked a peerage.

From The English Stage Being an Account of the Victorian Drama by Filon, Augustin