Etymograph

English

squire

Squire comes from Latin scūtārius ‘shield-bearer’, and goes back to scūtum.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscūtum‘shield’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEscūtārius‘shield-bearer’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400escuier
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500esquire
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1663squire

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscūtum‘shield’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEscūtārius‘shield-bearer’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400escuier
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500esquire
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1663squire

Earliest quotation: 1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras: “A Squire he had, whose name was Ralph[.]”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to cut, split’

nice, science, ship, scientific, shift, equipment, shed, skip, conscious, kyle, ski, shin, sheath, skeet, skiff, chine, prescient, skein, shud, 44 more

through Latin scūtum ‘shield’

skew, scuttle, scullery, 15 more

Today it means

noun A shield-bearer or armor-bearer who attended a knight.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin scūtum / squire

Shirt and support for this word