Editing Sir (section)

==Etymology==
''Sir'' derives from the honorific title ''[[sire]]''; ''sire'' developed alongside the word ''seigneur'', also used to refer to a feudal lord. Both derived from the [[Vulgar Latin]] {{small caps|senior}}, ''sire'' comes from the [[nominative case]] declension {{smallcaps|senior}} and ''seigneur'', the [[accusative case]] declension {{small caps|seniōrem}}.<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of the French Language Through Texts|last=Ayres-Bennet|first=Wendy|year=1996|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=0415099994|section=The 'heyday' of Old French (French in the 12th and 13th centuries)}}</ref>

The form 'Sir' is first documented in [[English language|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 {{Circa|1205}} (after 139 years of Norman rule) as a title placed before a name and denoting knighthood, and to address the (male) Sovereign since {{Circa|1225}}, with additional general senses of 'father, male parent' is from {{Circa|1250}}, and 'important elderly man' from 1362.