esquire

esquire · noun, verb¹

1. Latin · derived fromscūtum“shield”
2. Late Latin · derived fromscūtārius“shieldmaker, shield-bearer”
3. Old French · derived fromescuyer
4. Middle English · inherited fromesquier
5. English todayesquire

From Middle English esquier, from Old French escuyer, escuier, properly, a shield-bearer (compare modern French écuyer (“shield-bearer, armor-bearer, squire of a knight, esquire, equerry, rider, horseman”)), from Late Latin scūtārius (“shieldmaker, shield-bearer”), from Latin scūtum (“shield”); probably akin to English hide (“to cover”). The term squire is the result of apheresis. Compare equerry, escutcheon.

esquire · noun²

1. Old French · derived fromesquiere
2. English todayesquire

Old French esquiere, esquierre, esquarre (“a square”) (whence modern French équerre), perhaps via a form like based esquire from bas d'esquire ("bottom of a square"), whence attested forms base (e)squire, e(s)quire bast.

Words from the same roots