# squire

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈskwaɪə/ · frequency rank #20,234

## Definitions
1. A shield-bearer or armor-bearer who attended a knight.
2. A title of dignity next in degree below knight, and above gentleman. See esquire.
3. A male attendant on a great personage.
4. A landowner from the English gentry during the early modern period.
5. A devoted attendant or follower of a lady; a beau.
6. A title of office and courtesy. See under esquire.
7. A term of address to a male equal.
8. An Australian snapper (Chrysophrys auratus), a food fish also found in eastern Asia.
9. A grass emperor (Lethrinus laticaudis), of coral reefs of the western Pacific.

## Etymology
From Middle English esquire, from Old French escuier, from Latin scūtārius (“shield-bearer”), from scūtum (“shield”).

## Easily confused with
- **sure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squire-vs-sure)
- **suite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squire-vs-suite)
- **squirt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squire-vs-squirt)
- **squish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squire-vs-squish)
- **squirm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squire-vs-squirm)
- **squirrel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squire-vs-squirrel)
- **sire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sire-vs-squire)
- **shire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shire-vs-squire)
- **squid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squid-vs-squire)
- **spire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spire-vs-squire)
- **square** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/square-vs-squire)
- **satire** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/satire-vs-squire)
- **squint** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squint-vs-squire)
- **sluice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sluice-vs-squire)
- **squared** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/squared-vs-squire)

## Common misspellings (8)
`qsuire`, `sqiure`, `sqquire`, `squier`, `squirre`, `squrie`, `ssquire`, `suqire`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/squire