Sirrah - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sir·rah

Audio Help [sir-uh] Pronunciation Key

–noun Archaic.

a term of address used to inferiors or children to express impatience, contempt, etc.

[Origin: 1520–30; extended form of sir; source of final vowel is unclear

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Sirrah

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sir·rah Audio Help (sĭr'ə) Pronunciation Key
n. Obsolete
Mister; fellow. Used as a contemptuous form of address.

[Alteration of sir.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
sirrah

1526, term of address used to men or boys expressing anger or contempt, archaic extended form of sir (in U.S., siree, attested from 1823).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

sirrah
noun
formerly a contemptuous term of address to an inferior man or boy; often used in anger

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Sirrah

Sir\, n. [OE. sire, F. sire, contr. from the nominative L. senior an elder, elderly person, compar. of senex,senis, an aged person; akin to Gr. ??? old, Skr. sana, Goth. sineigs old, sinista eldest, Ir. & Gael. sean old, W. hen. Cf. Seignior, Senate, Seneschal, Senior, Senor, Signor, Sire, Sirrah.]

1. A man of social authority and dignity; a lord; a master; a gentleman; -- in this sense usually spelled sire. [Obs.]

He was crowned lord and sire. --Gower.

In the election of a sir so rare. --Shak.

2. A title prefixed to the Christian name of a knight or a baronet.

Sir Horace Vere, his brother, was the principal in the active part. --Bacon.

3. An English rendering of the LAtin Dominus, the academical title of a bachelor of arts; -- formerly colloquially, and sometimes contemptuously, applied to the clergy. --Nares.

Instead of a faithful and painful teacher, they hire a Sir John, which hath better skill in playing at tables, or in keeping of a garden, than in God's word. --Latimer.

4. A respectful title, used in addressing a man, without being prefixed to his name; -- used especially in speaking to elders or superiors; sometimes, also, used in the way of emphatic formality. "What's that to you, sir?" --Sheridan.

Note: Anciently, this title, was often used when a person was addressed as a man holding a certain office, or following a certain business. "Sir man of law." "Sir parish priest." --Chaucer.

Sir reverance. See under Reverence, n.

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