Word.ws English Dictionary

Sir John

Sir John noun: a priest.

Noun

Sir John (plural Sir Johns)

  1. (colloquial, obsolete) A priest.
    • But how comes it to passe (may some say) that these poore Franciscans are more commonly flouted and played upon than the other fry of Friers? Verily it is not for want of examples as well of other Monks as of simple Sir Johns.1808, John Jamieson, An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, volume 2
    • a. 1555, John Bradford, letter to Richard Hopkins
      Who then, I say, will excuse these mass-gospellers' consciences? Will the Queen's highness? She shall then have more to do for herself than, without hearty and speedy repentance, she can ever be able to answer, though Peter, Paul, Mary, James, John...

Forms of Sir John

pluralSir Johns

Origin of Sir John

Sir was formerly a common title of address for the clergy as a translation of Latin dominus, the term used for a bachelor of arts, originally in contradistinction from the magister, or master of arts.

Words formed from Sir John

Words that rhyme with Sir John

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about Sir John

What does Sir John mean?
Sir John means a priest.
What part of speech is Sir John?
Sir John is a noun.
What is the plural of Sir John?
The plural of Sir John is Sir Johns.

Words near Sir John in the dictionary

  1. Sir David's long-beaked echidnae
  2. Sir David's long-beaked echidnas
  3. Sir Francis Drake Channel
  4. Sir Humphrey
  5. Sir Humphreys
  6. Sir John
  7. Sir John Lack-Latin
  8. Sir John Lack-Latins
  9. Sir Johns
  10. Sir Philip Sidney game
  11. Sir Philip Sidney games

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Sir John (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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