squire
part of speech
noun (a squire, squires); verb (squire — old-fashioned, rare)
meaning for a pupil
1) (history) A young man training to be a knight, who served a knight and carried his shield and armour. tree →
2) (UK, old-fashioned) The main landowner in a village or country area. tree →
3) (UK, informal, old-fashioned) A friendly way a man may address another man: «All right, squire?». tree →
sense in the lessons
In history lessons on the Middle Ages, the path to knighthood was page (age 7), squire (about 14), then knight (about 21). In old English novels, the squire is the important gentleman of the village. In comic UK speech, a market trader might say «What can I get you, squire?». Phrases: «page, squire, knight», «the village squire», «the squire's manor».
examples
- The squire polished his knight's armour. tree →
- At fourteen, a page could become a squire. tree →
- The squire lived in the big house at the end of the village. tree →
- «Cheers, squire!» said the man at the market stall. tree →
- A squire helped the knight get on his horse. tree →
- In the story, the squire and his dog went hunting. tree →
- ‘Where are you going?’ said the squire. tree →
note
Countable. Old-fashioned word in all senses. Related: «esquire», «Esq.» (a polite title after a man's name in old letters). Order to knighthood: page → squire → knight.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «squire» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.