Editing Squire (section)

==Terminology==
''Squire'' is a shortened version of the word ''[[esquire]]'',  from the [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-French]] {{lang|fro|esquier}}  itself meaning ("shield bearer").<ref>{{cite web |title=Squire |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/squire |website=Merriam-Webster}}</ref> Other terms include ''scutifer'' and the Latin {{lang|la|armiger}} ("arms bearer").<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cross |first1=Peter |title=Knights, Esquires and the Origins of Social Gradation in England |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |date=1995 |volume=5 |page=155-178 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3679332?read-now=1&seq=24#page_scan_tab_contents}}</ref>

Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire could be a knight's servant that fought with his lord. It could also refer to sub-knightly Men-at-Arms and was used interchangeably with [[valet]]. Over time it referred to a broad social class of men, just below the rank of knight.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cross |first1=Peter |title=Knights, Esquires and the Origins of Social Gradation in England |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |date=1995 |volume=5 |page=155-178 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3679332?read-now=1&seq=24#page_scan_tab_contents}}</ref> Eventually, a [[lord of the manor]] might come to be known as a "squire".