French word

sieur

Pronunciation

IPA/sjœʁ/

Meaning

  • masculine noungentleman

Example

Le sieur mentionné a signé le contrat.

The said gentleman signed the contract.

Illustration for sieur (gentleman)

More examples

Le sieur du café connaissait déjà notre commande.

The gentleman at the cafe already knew our order.

Core concept

A formal label placed before a man's name in a legal document to identify the person concerned.

Similar words

monsieur: A general title of respect for a man, placed before his name when addressing him.
personne: A general word for a person or individual, including a particular person.

Definition in French

Ancienne formule placée devant un nom propre dans les actes pour désigner la personne visée, fréquemment employée dans le langage juridique.

Word origin

Sieur developed in Old French as a shortened form of seigneur, from Latin senior, meaning an older or superior person.

Usage tips

  • Sieur is archaic or jocular in ordinary speech and mainly appears today in legal or deliberately old-fashioned writing.

Other meanings

  • sirnoun

Word lists with this word