escuier

Escuier comes from the Latin scutarius (shield-bearer), from scutum (shield). A squire was originally a young man of good birth who served a knight — carrying his shield, maintaining his armor, leading his horse, and learning the arts of war. The squire aspired to knighthood. The role was an apprenticeship. The shield-bearer was a knight-in-training.

Not every squire became a knight. Knighthood was expensive — the armor, the warhorse, the obligation to serve in military campaigns — and many squires chose to remain squires rather than assume the financial burden. By the fourteenth century, 'squire' had become a social rank in its own right, designating a man of good family who owned land but did not hold a knightly title. The apprenticeship became a permanent status.

In England, the squire became the characteristic figure of rural authority. The country squire owned the largest estate in the parish, served as justice of the peace, hired and fired the rector, and exercised informal but real power over the surrounding community. Fielding's Squire Western in Tom Jones (1749) and Austen's Mr. Bennet are literary squires. The word conjured a specific image: a landowner, conservative, provincial, authoritative within his own domain, out of his depth in London.

The word abbreviated to 'Esq.' (Esquire) and attached to names as an honorific. In British usage, Esquire designated a man of a specific social standing below knight. In American usage, Esquire became the standard form of address for lawyers. The shield-bearer became the country gentleman became the legal professional. The word dropped its shield and picked up a briefcase.