sire
/saɪə(ɹ)/noun, verb
sire is spelled S-I-R-E: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sire means “A lord, master, or other person in authority, most commonly used vocatively: formerly in speaking to elders and superiors, later only when addressing…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sire is sires.
How many letters and syllables are in sire?
| Letters | 4: S-I-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.7 times per million words; the 16,455th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is sire?
Sire appears 2.7 times per million words in written English, the 16,455th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce sire?
- /saɪə(ɹ)/
Sire has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-AcpoKrane-sire.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with sire?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as sire.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: rise, reis, eirs.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of sire
- sires plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- siring participle, present
- sired participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sire mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A lord, master, or other person in authority, most commonly used vocatively: formerly in speaking to elders and superiors, later only when addressing a sovereign.
- 2
A male animal that has fathered a particular offspring (especially used of domestic animals and in biological research).
- 3
obsoleteA father; the head of a family; the husband.
- 4
obsoleteA creator; a maker; an author; an originator.
- 5
The vampire who turned another person.
verb
- 1
To father; to beget.
- 2
To turn (another person) into a vampire.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sire in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Herr , Männchen, Rüde, Hengst, Kater, Rammler |
| Spanish | amo, dueño, señor, seor, ser , semental apareado |
| French | saillir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does sire come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).