squire

noun \ ˈskwī(-ə)r \

Updated on: 1 Apr 2018

Definition of squire

1 : a shield bearer or armor bearer of a knight

2 a : a male attendant especially on a great personage

b : a man who devotedly attends a lady : gallant

3 a : a member of the British gentry ranking below a knight and above a gentleman

b : an owner of a country estate; especially : the principal landowner in a village or district

c (1) : justice of the peace

(2) : lawyer

(3) : judge

—

squirish

play \ˈskwīr-ish\ adjective

See squire defined for English-language learners

See squire defined for kids

Recent Examples of squire from the Web

The other, Ken Dodd, stayed firmly on the ground, the joke-telling squire of the jam butty mines of Knotty Ash.

— chris jones, chicagotribune.com, "Why the late, great Brits Stephen Hawking and Ken Dodd (who?) were more alike than you realize," 15 Mar. 2018
The Rockford squire wrote an article back around his birth and nicknamed him Storm Trooper.

— april stevens, Detroit Free Press, "Rockford man's body found after going missing in Bahamas," 10 Mar. 2018
Derived from an Egyptian material called Fustian, this corded, velvet-like material has been worn by squires and slackers, but became associated with the working class during the industrial revolution.

— Vogue, "The Cords & Co. Opens a Store in SoHo and Exclusively Reveals Its Next Collab with Vogue," 21 Feb. 2018
The duo last appeared at CVLT together as 'King Arthur' and his squire 'Patsy' in 2016's Spamalot, which played to sell-out houses.

— chagrin valley little theatre, cleveland.com, ""Greater Tuna" returns to spawn laughs at CVLT in March," 19 Feb. 2018
The Queen's ladies show off their intricate gowns, while little boys dressed in ballet slippers and puffy sleeves serve as squires.

— tara massouleh, AL.com, "Have you been to the country's original Mardi Gras celebration in Mobile?," 6 Feb. 2018
Before that, according to Merriam-Webster, bachelor (or, earlier, bacheler) referred to a young man, especially one who held a bachelor’s degree or followed a knight as his squire.

— kat eschner, Smithsonian, "‘Spinster’ and ‘Bachelor’ Were, Until 2005, Official Terms for Single People," 14 Sep. 2017
Don’t miss the winged altar and triptych depicting Great Reformer Martin Luther – who preached in the church – as a monk, squire and teacher.

— Smithsonian, "Discover more of Thuringia’s rich heritage.," 30 Oct. 2017
Against all odds, Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza take to the road in a quest of chivalry and seek out the good and innocent in a world filled with darkness and despair.

— Alaska Dispatch News, "What’s happening this week around Anchorage: AFN, A Tribe Called Red and ‘Rocky Horror’," 20 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'squire.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of squire

Middle English squier, from Anglo-French esquier — more at esquire

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

See Words from the same year

squire

verb

Definition of squire

squired; squiring

transitive verb

: to attend as a squire : escort

Examples of squire in a Sentence

her father squired her to the dance to make sure she got there all right

Recent Examples of squire from the Web

His old friend Richie Neal, the congressman, and Domenic Sarno, the mayor, were going to squire him around Springfield, and the John Boyle O’Reilly Club would be buzzing.

— kevin cullen, BostonGlobe.com, "So much for the luck of the Irish," 15 Mar. 2018
The singer subsequently squired screen goddesses including Ava Gardner.

— adam bernstein, Washington Post, "Vic Damone, popular 1950s crooner and nightclub star, dies at 89," 12 Feb. 2018
The woman dressed her pet monkeys in baby clothes and squired them around in a pram.

— james ellroy, Vanities, "James Ellroy’s Buzz M for Murder," 7 Oct. 2017
And Mazzola himself was an early mover in the tradition of fashion magazine editors squiring actresses and singers to the collections.

— stephen mooallem, Harper's BAZAAR, "A Look Back at Harper's Bazaar in the 1980s," 29 Sep. 2017
The film’s story consists, in large part, of the conflict that Ana faces between squiring Christian through his urgent roundelay of business functions and pushing her own editorial career ahead.

— richard brody, The New Yorker, "“Fifty Shades Darker”: Not Even the Sex Has Personality," 9 Feb. 2017
For two days, Weber squired the member of parliament around Capitol Hill to spread the message that then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was leading his country on the path to reform and was seeking to embrace the West.

— chicagotribune.com, "How Paul Manafort helped buy Washington influence for Putin crony," 7 July 2017
Director Jerry Ruiz squired this script through its world premiere in Denver, last year and its off-Broadway production earlier this year, and Eddie Martinez played Abel in both those productions as well.

— christopher arnott, courant.com, "'Fade' Is Grander Than Its Office Setting," 9 June 2017

First Known Use of squire

14th century

squire Synonyms

SQUIRE Defined for English Language Learners

squire

noun

Definition of squire for English Language Learners

: a young man in the Middle Ages who helped a knight before eventually becoming a knight himself
: a man in the past in England who owned most of the land in a village or district in the country
—used to address a man whose name is unknown