English Reference
verb

sire

v.
US /ˈsaɪɝ/ UK /sˈaɪə/ sire UK spelling sired, sires

  1. 01 C1 Advanced FormalTechnical

    to be the father of a child or an animal.

    to beget or procreate as a father; to provide the male genetic material for offspring.

    Simple

    The champion racehorse went on to sire many successful foals.

    In context

    Records indicate that the legendary bull managed to sire over fifty calves during his time at the research facility.

    Usage

    Usually transitive, taking the offspring as the direct object.

    fatherbegetprocreate

From Middle English sire, from Old French sire, the nominative singular of seignor; from Latin senior, from senex. Doublet of seigneur, seignior, senhor, senior, señor, senyor, signore, and sir. Cognate with French monsieur.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Latin senior
Level C2 · Proficiency
Frequency Frequent
Updated