Sir
Sir is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages.
[citation needed] Traditionally, as governed by law and custom, Sir is used for men who are knights and belong to certain orders of chivalry, as well as later applied to baronets and other offices.
Additionally, since the late modern period, Sir has been used as a respectful way to address a man of superior social status or military rank.
Equivalent terms of address for women are Madam (shortened to Ma'am), in addition to social honorifics such as Mrs, Ms, or Miss.
[1] The form 'Sir' is first documented in English in 1297, as the title of honour of a knight, and latterly a baronet, being a variant of sire, which was already used in English since at least c. 1205 (after 139 years of Norman rule) as a title placed before a name and denoting knighthood, and to address the (male) Sovereign since c. 1225, with additional general senses of 'father, male parent' is from c. 1250, and 'important elderly man' from 1362.
In 1974, Lynden Pindling, the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, recommended dual Bahamian-American citizen Sidney Poitier for an honorary knighthood as an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), an imperial honour, as the Bahamas did not have its own honours system at the time.
For instance, Anthony Bailey was reprimanded by Buckingham Palace and the British government in 2016 for asserting that an honorary Antiguan knighthood (which was revoked in 2017) allowed him the style of 'Sir' in the UK.
[7] Although this form was previously also used for the wives of knights and baronets, it is now customary to refer to them as 'Lady', followed by their surname; they are never addressed using their full names.
This practice has now been discontinued, though individuals who received a knighthood or damehood when the country was still a Commonwealth realm may continue to use the titles "Sir" and "Dame" within their lifetimes.
From its creation in 1878 until 1887, the Order of the Indian Empire had a single class, Companion (CIE), which did not entitle the recipient to a style of knighthood.
In Nigeria, holders of religious honours like the Knighthood of St. Gregory make use of the word as a pre-nominal honorific in much the same way as it is used for secular purposes in Britain and the Philippines.
The Pope, the sovereign of the Catholic Church and Vatican City, delegates the awarding orders of knighthood to bishops and Grand Masters.
Their precedence is as follows: For Example, Sir Burton P. C. Hall, KSS, KCHS would be the correct style for lay knights.
Catholic clergy who are invested as Knight Chaplains may use post-nominal letters, but must retain their clerical titles, like Rev.
Notable members of the Order include King Juan Carlos I of Spain who was conferred a Knight Grand Cross of Rizal on 11 February 1998, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former US Secretary of State Sir Henry Kissinger, former Philippine President Sir Benigno Aquino III, and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines and drafter of the 1987 Philippine constitution The Honorable Sir Hilario Davide, Jr.
[22] Jennifer Coates, emeritus professor of English language and linguistics at Roehampton University, has criticised the use of the title for male teachers, saying that "'Sir' is a knight.
If not specifically using their rank or title, 'sir' is used in the United States Armed Forces to address a male commissioned officer.
In the United States, it is much more common in certain areas (even when addressing male peers or men considerably younger).
For example, a 1980 study showed that 80% of service interactions in the South were accompanied by 'Sir' or Ma'am, in comparison to the Northern United States, where 'Sir' was only used 25% of the time.
[27][28][29][30] 'Sir' is used as gender-neutral term to address superior ranking officers in the series Star Trek and The Orville.
