squire
/ˈskwaɪɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.28 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A shield-bearer or armor-bearer who attended a knight.
noun
A landowner from the English gentry during the early modern period.
noun
An Australian snapper (Chrysophrys auratus), a food fish also found in eastern Asia.
Example Sentences
- "A Squire he had, whose name was Ralph[.]"
- "Third Suitor was Young Country Squire, well born, Perſon indifferent, Cloaths (fondly worn)[.]"
- "Sorry squire, I've had a look 'round the back of the shop, and uh, we're right out of parrots."
- "[O]n ſome occaſions, he diſplayed all his fund of good humour, vvith a vievv to beguile her ſorrovv; he importuned her to give him the pleasure of ’ſquiring her to ſome place of innocent entertainment; and, finally, inſiſted upon her accepting a pecuniary reinforcement to her finances, vvhich he knevv to be in a moſt conſumptive condition."
- "Perceiving, however, that I had on my best wig, she offered, if I would ’squire her there, to send home the footman."
- "To man a lady was, in former times, a phrase similar to the vulgar one at present in use, to squire."
Etymology
From Middle English esquire, from Old French escuier, from Latin scūtārius (“shield-bearer”), from scūtum (“shield”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈskwaɪɚ/
- British English: /ˈskwaɪə/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in People.