sire
/sʌɪə
/noun
1The male parent of an animal, especially a stallion or bull kept for breeding: the sire is one of the country’s top thoroughbred stallions...
- Four Brahman and four Angus sires were rotated among breeding pastures in both forage systems each year.
- Sequencing was done on eight bull sires of Norwegian dairy cattle using Dye Terminator chemistry.
- Second-generation hybrids were generated from four parental animals: two sires and two dams.
2 archaic A respectful form of address for someone of high social status, especially a king.We honestly did not know we had trespassed on your lands, sire.
2.1A father or other male forebear.I never really knew my father, while the rest admired their noble sires.
verb [with object]
1Be the male parent of (an animal): Castor twice sired two champions in a litter...
- We conclude that the chicks were sired by extrapair males.
- He never showed much interest in the number of departmental female elephants around and never sired a calf.
- The heifer calves were from crossbred cows sired by Eimousin bulls.
1.1 literary (Of a person) be the father of: his father had just that measure of talent which so often sires a genius...
- I have sired no offspring, created no universes, I cannot walk through walls and I've never been killed at Easter.
- There will always be plenty of babies sired by dominant men.
- About 40 percent of the babies were sired by someone other than the mother's mate.
Origin
Middle English (in sense 2 of the noun): from Old French, from an alteration of Latin senior (see senior). sense 1 of the noun dates from the early 16th century.