sire
noun /ˈsaɪə(r)/
/ˈsaɪər/
- (specialist) the male parent of an animal, especially a horse compare dam
- (old use) a word that people used when they addressed a king
Word OriginMiddle English (in sense (2) of the noun): from Old French, from an alteration of Latin senior ‘older, older man’, comparative of senex, sen- ‘old man, old’. Sense (1) of the noun dates from the early 16th cent.