*sir*

n. [ Pref. bel- + sire. Cf. Beldam. ] A grandfather, or ancestor. “His great belsire Brute.” [ Obs. ] Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being desirable; desirableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. désirable, fr. L. desiderabilis. See Desire, v. t. ] Worthy of desire or longing; fitted to excite desire or a wish to possess; pleasing; agreeable. [ 1913 Webster ]

All of them desirable young men. Ezek. xxiii. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

As things desirable excite
Desire, and objects move the appetite. Blackmore. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being desirable. [ 1913 Webster ]

The desirableness of the Austrian alliance. Froude. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a desirable manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Desired p. pr. & vb. n. Desiring. ] [ F. désirer, L. desiderare, origin uncertain, perh. fr. de- + sidus star, constellation, and hence orig., to turn the eyes from the stars. Cf. Consider, and Desiderate, and see Sidereal. ] 1. To long for; to wish for earnestly; to covet. [ 1913 Webster ]

Neither shall any man desire thy land. Ex. xxxiv. 24. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ye desire your child to live. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To express a wish for; to entreat; to request. [ 1913 Webster ]

Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? 2 Kings iv. 28. [ 1913 Webster ]

Desire him to go in; trouble him no more. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To require; to demand; to claim. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A doleful case desires a doleful song. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To miss; to regret. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

She shall be pleasant while she lives, and desired when she dies. Jer. Taylor.

Syn. -- To long for; hanker after; covet; wish; ask; request; solicit; entreat; beg. -- To Desire, Wish. In desire the feeling is usually more eager than in wish. “I wish you to do this” is a milder form of command than “I desire you to do this, ” though the feeling prompting the injunction may be the same. C. J. Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. désir, fr. désirer. See Desire, v. t. ] 1. The natural longing that is excited by the enjoyment or the thought of any good, and impels to action or effort its continuance or possession; an eager wish to obtain or enjoy. [ 1913 Webster ]

Unspeakable desire to see and know. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An expressed wish; a request; petition. [ 1913 Webster ]

And slowly was my mother brought
To yield consent to my desire. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Anything which is desired; an object of longing. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Desire of all nations shall come. Hag. ii. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Excessive or morbid longing; lust; appetite. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Grief; regret. [ Obs. ] Chapman.

Syn. -- Wish; appetency; craving; inclination; eagerness; aspiration; longing. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Filled with desire; eager. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The desireful troops. Godfrey (1594). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being desireful; eagerness to obtain and possess. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The desirefulness of our minds much augmenteth and increaseth our pleasure. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Free from desire. Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who desires, asks, or wishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. désireux, OF. desiros, fr. desir. See Desire, n. ] Feeling desire; eagerly wishing; solicitous; eager to obtain; covetous. [ 1913 Webster ]

Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him. John xvi. 19. [ 1913 Webster ]

Be not desirous of his dainties. Prov. xxiii. 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With desire; eagerly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being desirous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From the name of a bullying braggart character in the play by George Villiers called “The Rehearsal.” ] A blustering, bullying fellow; a pot-valiant braggart; a bully. [ 1913 Webster ]

The leader was of an ugly look and gigantic stature; he acted like a drawcansir, sparing neither friend nor foe. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. fissirostre. ] (Zool.) Having the bill cleft beyond the horny part, as in the case of swallows and goatsuckers. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ NL., fr. L. fissus (p. p. of findere to cleave) + rostrum beak. ] (Zool.) A group of birds having the bill deeply cleft. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. gibecière a game pouch or game pocket. Cf. Gibbier. ] A kind of pouch formerly worn at the girdle. Ld. Lytton. [ 1913 Webster ]

A gipser all of silk,
Hung at his girdle, white as morné milk. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. grantsire. See Grand, and Sire. ] Specifically, a grandfather; more generally, any ancestor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A stern man. [ Obs. ] Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Undesirable. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Gr. lepi`s -i`dos, a scale + seirh`n a siren. ] (Zool.) An eel-shaped ganoid fish of the order Dipnoi, having both gills and lungs. It inhabits the rivers of South America. The name is also applied to a related African species (Protopterus annectens). The lepidosirens grow to a length of from four to six feet. Called also doko. [ 1913 Webster ]

, prop. n. A famous English mathematician and natural philosopher, born at Woolsthorpe, near Grantham, Lincolnshire, Dec. 25, 1642 (O. S.): died at Kensington, March 20, 1727. His father, Isaac Newton, was a small freehold farmer. He matriculated at Cambridge (Trinity College) July 8, 1661; was elected to a scholarship April 28, 1664; and graduated in Jan., 1665. At the university he was especially attracted by the study of Descartes's geometry. The method of fluxions is supposed to have first occurred to him in 1665. He was made a fellow of Trinity in 1667, and Lucasian professor at Cambridge in Oct., 1669. He became a fellow of the Royal Society in Jan., 1672. Newton's attention was probably drawn to the subject of gravitation as early as 1665. The story of the fall of the apple was first told by Voltaire, who had it from Mrs. Conduitt, Newton's niece. Kepler had established the laws of the planetary orbits, and from these laws Newton proved that the attraction of the sun upon the planets varies inversely as the squares of their distances. Measuring the actual deflection of the moon's orbit from its tangent, he found it to be identical with the deflection which would be created by the attraction of the earth, diminishing in the ratio of the inverse square of the distance. The hypothesis that the same force acted in each case was thus confirmed. The success of Newton's work really depended on the determination of the length of a degree on the earth's surface by Picard in 1671. The universal law of gravitation was Completely elaborated by 1685. The first book of the "principia" or "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica" Was presented to the Royal Society, April 28, 1686, and the entire work was published in 1687. In 1689 he sat in Parliament for the University of Cambridge, and at this time was associated with John Locke; in 1701 he was reelected. When his friend Charles Montagu (afterward earl of Halifax) was appointed chancellor of the exchequer, Newton was made warden of the mint, and in 1699 master of the mint. The reformation of English coinage was largely his work. The method of fluxions, which he had discovered, was employed in the calculations for the "Principia," but did not appear until 1693, when it was published by Wallis. It also appeared in 1704 in the first edition of the "Optics." On Feb. 21, 1699, he was elected foreign associate of the French Academy of Sciences. In 1703 he was elected president of the Royal Society, and held the office till his death.
Newton was buried in Westminster Abbey on 28 March, eight days after his death. His grave is close to a monument in the Abbey erected in his honor. The Latin inscription reads: Hic depositum est, quod mortale fuit Isaaci Newtoni. This may be translated as “Here lies that which was mortal of Isaac Newton”. Before the funeral his body lay in state in the Jerusalem Chamber and his coffin was followed to its grave by most of the Fellows of the Royal Society. The Lord Chancellor, two dukes and three earls were pall bearers.
Newton is most commonly known for his conception of the law of universal gravitation, but his other discoveries and inventions in mathematics (e.g. the binomial theorem, differential and integral calculus), optics, mechanics, and astronomy place him at the very forefront of all scientists. His study and understanding of light, the invention of the reflecting telescope (1668), and his revelation in his Principia of the mathematical ordering of the universe are all represented on his monument in Westminster Abbey. Century Dictionary 1906, http://westminster-abbey.org [ PJC ]

prop. n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;; of Egyptian origin. ] (Myth.) One of the principal divinities of Egypt, the brother and husband of Isis. He was figured as a mummy wearing the royal cap of Upper Egypt, and was symbolized by the sacred bull, called Apis. Cf. Serapis. -- O*sir"i*an a. [1913 Webster]

n. [ L. presssus pressed (p. p. of premere) + rostrum beak: cf. F. pressirostre. See 4th Press. ] (Zool.) One of a tribe of wading birds (Pressirostres) including those which have a compressed beak, as the plovers. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Of or pertaining to the pressirosters. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. sire, F. sire, contr. from the nominative L. senior an elder, elderly person, compar. of senex, senis, an aged person; akin to Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_; old, Skr. sana, Goth. sineigs old, sinista eldest, Ir. & Gael. sean old, W. hen. Cf. Seignior, Senate, Seneschal, Senior, Senor, Signor, Sire, Sirrah. ] 1. A man of social authority and dignity; a lord; a master; a gentleman; -- in this sense usually spelled sire. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He was crowned lord and sire. Gower. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the election of a sir so rare. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A title prefixed to the Christian name of a knight or a baronet. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sir Horace Vere, his brother, was the principal in the active part. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An English rendering of the LAtin Dominus, the academical title of a bachelor of arts; -- formerly colloquially, and sometimes contemptuously, applied to the clergy. Nares. [ 1913 Webster ]

Instead of a faithful and painful teacher, they hire a Sir John, which hath better skill in playing at tables, or in keeping of a garden, than in God's word. Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A respectful title, used in addressing a man, without being prefixed to his name; -- used especially in speaking to elders or superiors; sometimes, also, used in the way of emphatic formality. “What's that to you, sir?” Sheridan. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Anciently, this title, was often used when a person was addressed as a man holding a certain office, or following a certain business. “Sir man of law.” “Sir parish priest.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sir reverance. See under Reverence, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Seraskier. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Seraskierate. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Serbonian. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Hind. & Per. sarkār a superintendant, overseer, chief; Per. sar the head + kār action, work. ] 1. A Hindoo clerk or accountant. [ India ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A district or province; a circar. [ India ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The government; the supreme authority of the state. [ India ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Hind. & Per. sardār a chief, general; sar the head, top + dār holding, possessing. ] A native chief in Hindostan; a headman. Malcom. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In Turkey, Egypt, etc., a commander in chief, esp. the one commanding the Anglo-Egyptian army. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir. ] 1. A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Pain and distress, sickness and ire,
And melancholy that angry sire,
Be of her palace senators. Rom. of R. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A tittle of respect formerly used in speaking to elders and superiors, but now only in addressing a sovereign. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A father; the head of a family; the husband. [ 1913 Webster ]

Jankin thet was our sire [ i.e., husband ]. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

And raise his issue, like a loving sire. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A creator; a maker; an author; an originator. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ He ] was the sire of an immortal strain. Shelley. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The male parent of a beast; -- applied especially to horses; as, the horse had a good sire. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Sire is often used in composition; as in grandsire, grandfather; great-grandsire, great-grandfather. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Sired p. pr. & vb. n. Siring. ] To beget; to procreate; -- used of beasts, and especially of stallions. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL., from Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_; a siren. ] (Zool.) The larval form of any salamander while it still has external gills; especially, one of those which, like the axolotl (Amblystoma Mexicanum), sometimes lay eggs while in this larval state, but which under more favorable conditions lose their gills and become normal salamanders. See also Axolotl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;: cf. F. sirène. ] 1. (Class. Myth.) One of three sea nymphs, -- or, according to some writers, of two, -- said to frequent an island near the coast of Italy, and to sing with such sweetness that they lured mariners to destruction. [ 1913 Webster ]

Next where the sirens dwell you plow the seas;
Their song is death, and makes destruction please. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An enticing, dangerous woman. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Something which is insidious or deceptive. [ 1913 Webster ]

Consumption is a siren. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A mermaid. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) Any long, slender amphibian of the genus Siren or family Sirenidae, destitute of hind legs and pelvis, and having permanent external gills as well as lungs. They inhabit the swamps, lagoons, and ditches of the Southern United States. The more common species (Siren lacertina) is dull lead-gray in color, and becames two feet long. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. [ F. sirène, properly, a siren in sense 1. ] (Acoustics) An instrument for producing musical tones and for ascertaining the number of sound waves or vibrations per second which produce a note of a given pitch. The sounds are produced by a perforated rotating disk or disks. A form with two disks operated by steam or highly compressed air is used sounding an alarm to vessels in fog. [ Written also sirene, and syren. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to a siren; bewitching, like a siren; fascinating; alluring; as, a siren song. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Siren, 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ NL. ] (Zool.) An order of large aquatic herbivorous mammals, including the manatee, dugong, rytina, and several fossil genera. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The hind limbs are either rudimentary or wanting, and the front ones are changed to paddles. They have horny plates on the front part of the jaws, and usually flat-crowned molar teeth. The stomach is complex and the intestine long, as in other herbivorous mammals. See Cetacea (b). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Any species of Sirenia. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like, or appropriate to, a siren; fascinating; deceptive. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here's couple of sirenical rascals shall enchant ye. Marton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To use the enticements of a siren; to act as a siren; to fascinate. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;, fr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_; the Dog Star, properly, scorching. ] (Med.) (a) A sunstroke. (b) The act of exposing to a sun bath. [ Obs. ] Cf. Insolation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L., fr. Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;, properly, scorching. ] (Astron.) The Dog Star. See Dog Star. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Any one of several species of Asiatic cuckoos of the genus Taccocua, as the Bengal sirkeer (Taccocua sirkee). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ A corruption of surloin. Not so called because this cut of beef was once jocosely knighted (dubbed Sir Loin) by an English king, as according to a popular story. ] A loin of beef, or a part of a loin. [ Written also surloin. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Surname. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Sirocco. [ Poetic ] Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]