What is the meaning of the word "sir"? This is one of the forms of polite appeal to a person, which today is almost never found. To whom exactly did they appeal? What is the origin and are there other meanings of the word "sir"? This can be found in the proposed review.
Polite treatment
The dictionary gives two options for the meaning of the word "sir."
In the first case, this is a very respectful, polite appeal to a man used in the Russian Empire, which is now obsolete. In the feminine gender, this word looks like "madam."
It is similar to “master” and “lady”, applied both to people of a higher position, and among socially equal people belonging to a noble or intellectual environment. Sometimes it had an ironic connotation.
Examples of use
- Understand, sir, it’s easy for you to bear the contempt that has turned on you, because you grew up among the middle class, and I was born not to endure!
- I remember you, ma'am, when you were still quite a baby, in a pink dress and white pantaloons, with blond hair and blue eyes.
- Dear sir and madam, we humbly ask you to go into the hall, dancing begins!
Origin
For a better understanding of the meaning of the word "sir" it will be useful to consider its etymology. It has an Old Russian origin and is formed from the "sovereign". The latter is often found in Novgorod letters from 1516. The people were distributed in the form of "osudar", "sir" and even "wasp". In turn, "sovereign" comes from the word "ruler".
And it is formed from the Old Slavonic "Lord".
Variants of it are available in the following languages:
- Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian - “gentlemen”;
- Slovenian - gospȏd;
- Ancient Czech - hospod.
Akin to “the sovereign” is the “lord”, which is present in Ukrainian, Bulgarian, as well as in:
- Old Slavonic - “gospdin”;
- Serbo-Croatian - “gospon”;
- Slovenian - gospodȋn;
- Czech - hospodín;
- Old Polish - gospodzin.
It is believed that the Old Slavonic "lord" is associated with the original form of the gostpod. But there is an opinion that it goes back to the Latin hospes, denoting the owner and the one who provides hospitality. The latter comes from hostipotis, in which the second part of potis means "mighty."
However, with any variant of origin - Slavic or Latin - an interesting conclusion emerges from what was said that all the words considered - "sir", "lord", "sovereign", "lord" and "lord" are one and the same. They all go back to the concept of "master, owner, master, who obey, respect, honor."
Accented on the second syllable
In this case, the word turns into “Sudar”, which has nothing to do with the polite treatment of “Sudar”. In the second meaning, this word in translation from the ancient Greek σουδάριον means "scarf". From it came the Latin sudarium, meaning "a scarf that wipes sweat from the face."
The word "sir" in the Gospel of John refers to the funeral plate, located on the head of Jesus Christ. There, the following is said about this veil: "After him, Simon Peter came and went into the coffin, saw the veil lying, as well as the plate that was on His head, lying not with veils, but in another place, especially entwined."
The word σουδάριον in the synodal translation (the translation of the Holy Scripture into Russian in the 19th century, intended for home reading, and not for divine services and approved by the Synod) is interpreted as a “shawl or“ board ”. In the Bible, translated into Church Slavonic, the so-called Elizabethan Bible, used for worship, this word is found in three versions: "sir", "Ubrus", "main weight".
The relic, revered as the emperor of Christ, is identified by a number of believers with the plate described in the Gospel. It is stored in Spain, in the city of Oviedo, in the Cathedral of San Salvador. This is a piece of linen cloth, the size of which is 84 by 53 cm, on which there are traces of blood.