esquire

Meaning

Noun

1. (US, usually) A lawyer.
2. A male member of the gentry ranking below a knight.
3. An honorific sometimes placed after a man's name.
4. A gentleman who attends or escorts a lady in public.
5. (archaic) A squire; a youth who in the hopes of becoming a knight attended upon a knight
6. (obsolete) A shield-bearer, but also applied to other attendants.

Verb

To attend, wait on, escort.

Synonyms

squire

armiger

gentleman

🤵‍♂️

landowner

liege

lord

master

monsieur

monsignor

nobleman

page

principal

seignior

senor

signor

sir

armor-bearer

Mister

signior

don

Translations

écuyer

escudero

scudiero

efendi

esquire

Schildknappe

monsieur

Knappe

Edelknabe

αξιότιμος κύριος

άρχοντας τόπου

κύριος

Herr

👨

Monsieur

Landjunker

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ɪˈskwaɪə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: esquier

Cognate with French: équerre

In summary

From Middle English esquier, from Old French escuyer, escuier, properly, a shield-bearer (compare modern French écuyer (“shield-bearer, armor-bearer, squire of a knight, esquire, equerry, rider, horseman”)), from Late Latin scūtārius (“shieldmaker, shield-bearer”), from Latin scūtum (“shield”); probably akin to English hide (“to cover”). The term squire is the result of apheresis. Compare equerry, escutcheon.