Brewer's: Sir

Latin, senex; Spanish, señor; Italian, signor; French, sicur; Norman, sire; English, sir. According to some, Greek is connected with Sir; on the analogy of = Latin sum; = Latin semper; = Latin sapa.

Sir
(a clerical address). Clergymen had at one time Sir prefixed to their name. This is not the Sir of knighthood, but merely a translation of the university word dominus given to graduates, as “Dominus Hugh Evans,” etc.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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