Word of the Day ·
esquire
noun
What it means
- USusuallylawA lawyer.
- A male member of the gentry ranking below a knight.
I am Robert Shallow, sir; a poor esquire of the county, and one of the king's justices of the peace.
c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]1 more example
Esquires and gentlemen are confounded together by Sir Edward Coke, who observes that every esquire is a gentleman, and a gentleman is defined to be one qui arma gerit, who bears coat-armour, the grant of which was thought to add gentility to a man's family. It is indeed a matter somewhat unsettled what constitutes the distinction, or who is a real esquire; for no estate, however large, per se confers this rank upon its owner.
1875 Herbert Broom and Edward Hadley, notes by William Wait, Commentaries on the laws of England, I-317
In a sentence
I am Robert Shallow, sir; a poor esquire of the county, and one of the king's justices of the peace.
c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]
Where it comes from
- Latinscūtum“shield”
- Late Latinscūtārius“shieldmaker, shield-bearer”
- Old Frenchescuyer
- Middle Englishesquier
- Englishesquire
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.
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