squire

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
squire/ˈskwʌɪə(r)/

▶noun

• 1 a country gentleman, especially the chief landowner in an area.

  ■ US archaic a title given to a magistrate, lawyer, or judge in some rural districts.

• 2 Brit. informal used as a friendly form of address by one man to another.

• 3 historical a young nobleman acting as an attendant to a knight before becoming a knight himself.

▶verb (of a man) accompany or escort (a woman).

■ dated (of a man) have a romantic relationship with (a woman).

– derivatives
squiredom noun,
squireship noun.

– origin ME: shortening of OFr. esquier ‘esquire’.