英文词源
- sir
- sir: [13] In common with many other European terms of address for men (such as monsieur and señor), sir goes back ultimately to Latin senior ‘older’ (source also of English senior). This was reduced in Vulgar Latin to *seior, which found its way into Old French as *sieire, later sire. English borrowed this as sire [13], which in weakly-stressed positions (prefixed to names, for instance) became sir.
Other titles based on senior that have found their way into English include French monsieur [15] (literally ‘my sire’), together with its plural messieurs [17], abbreviated to messrs [18]; French seigneur [16]; Spanish señor [17]; and Italian signor [16]. Surly [16] is an alteration of an earlier sirly ‘lordly’, a derivative of sir.
The meaning ‘grumpy’ evolved via an intermediate ‘haughty’.
=> senator, senior, sire, surly - sir
- c. 1300, title of honor of a knight or baronet (until 17c. also a title of priests), variant of sire, originally used only in unstressed position. Generalized as a respectful form of address by mid-14c.; used as a salutation at the beginning of letters from early 15c.
中文词源
sir（先生）：对英国骑士的正式称呼
在英文中，Sir原本是对骑士（knight）的尊称，一般翻译为“爵士”。只有被册封为骑士的贵族才能被称为Sir。在语法中，Sir可放在受勋人的姓名或名字之前，但决不可放在姓氏之前，否则就是不敬。如称呼Issac Newton骑士应该是Sir Issac Newton或Sir Issac，但不能是Sir Newton。这与我们中文的说法正好相反。
人们在用Sir称呼骑士时，往往省略姓名，直接用Sir。久而久之，人们对没有获得骑士爵位的人也用Sir作为尊称，相当于中文中的“先生”。
sir： [sɜː] n.先生，爵士，阁下
该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：sir 词源，sir 含义。
sir：先生，阁下
来源于拉丁语形容词senex, senis(老的),其比较级为senior,在通俗拉丁语中缩写为seior,经由古法语进入英语为sir。
-sen-老 → sir
sir：先生，阁下，爵士，老师
来自古法语 sire,阁下，主，缩写自拉丁语 senior,长者，老者，即 senior.后作为对男士的尊称。