In a message dated 2/17/00 5:28:51 PM, [email protected] writes:

<< Does Esquire denote that a person is a lawyer? >>

"Esquire: A title used in this country to mean a person of considerable 
influence or even wealth."

source: Evans, Barbara Jean. "A TO ZAX: A Comprehensive Dictionary for 
Genealogists and Historians," Third Edition. Alexandria: Hearthside, 1995.

But wait!

It's not really clear......There's even more !!! Read on. . .


es·quire (skwr, -skwr) 
n.  


1.  A male belonging to the gentry in England and ranking directly below a 
knight. 
2.  Esquire.  Abbr. Esq. Used as an honorific usually in its abbreviated 
form, especially after the name of an attorney or a consular officer: Jane 
Doe, Esq.; John Doe, Esq. 
3.  In medieval times, a candidate for knighthood who served a knight as an 
attendant and a shield bearer. 
4.  Archaic. An English country gentleman; a squire. 




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[Middle English esquier,  from Old French escuier,  from Late Latin sctrius,  
shield bearer,  from Latin sctum,  shield; see skei- in Indo-European Roots.] 
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Pronunciation Key
Source: The American Heritage(r) Dictionary of the English Language, Third 
Edition
Copyright (c) 1996, 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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skei-
Important derivatives are: shin1, science, conscious, nice, shit, schism, 
rescind, shed1, sheath, ski, esquire, squire. 
To cut, split. 


Extension of sek-. 
1.  
a.  shin1, from Old English scinu, shin, shinbone (< "piece cut off"); 
b.  chine, from Old French eschine, backbone, piece of meat with part of the 
backbone. Both a and b from Germanic suffixed form *ski-n-. 

2.  science, scilicet, sciolism; adscititious, conscience, conscious, 
nescience, (nice), omniscient, plebiscite, prescient, from Latin scre, to 
know (< "to separate one thing from another," "discern.") 
3.  Suffixed zero-grade form *skiy-en. skean, from Old Irish scan, knife. 
4.  Extended root *skeid-. 
a.  
i.  shit, from Old English *sctan, to defecate; 
ii. skate3, from Old Norse skta, to defecate; 
iii.    shyster, from Old High German skzzan, to defecate. (i), (ii), and (iii
) all from Germanic *sktan, to separate, defecate; 

b.  suffixed zero-grade form *sk(h)id-yo-. schism, schist, schizo-, from 
Greek skhizein, to split; 
c.  nasalized zero-grade form *ski-n-d-. scission; exscind, prescind, 
rescind, from Latin scindere, to split. 

5.  Extended root *skeit-. 
a.  
i.  shed1, from Old English scadan, to separate; 
ii. sheath, from Old English scath, sheath (< "split stick"), perhaps from ske
i-. Both (i) and (ii) from Germanic *skaith-, *skaidan; 

b.  ski, from Old Norse skdh, log, stick, snowshoe, from Germanic *skdam; 
c.  o-grade form *skoit-. écu, escudo, escutcheon, esquire, scudo, scutum, 
(squire), from Latin sctum, shield (< "board"). 

6.  Extended root *skeip-. 
a.  sheave2, from Middle English sheve, pulley (< "piece of wood with 
grooves"); 
b.  skive, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse skfa, to slice, 
split; 
c.  shiver2, from Middle English shivere, scivre, splinter, possibly from a 
Low German source akin to Middle Low German schever, splinter. a, b, and c 
all from Germanic *skif-. 




[Pokorny skei- 919.] 

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Pronunciation Key
Source: The American Heritage(r) Dictionary of the English Language, Third 
Edition
Copyright (c) 1996, 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Esquire \Es*quire"\, n. [OF. escuyer, escuier, properly, a shield-bearer, F. 
['e]cuyer shield-bearer, armor-bearer, squire of a knight, esquire, equerry, 
rider, horseman, LL. scutarius shield-bearer, fr. L. scutum shield, akin to 
Gr. ? skin, hide, from a root meaning to cover; prob. akin to E. hide to 
cover. See Hide to cover, and cf. Equerry, Escutcheon.] Originally, a 
shield-bearer or armor-bearer, an attendant on a knight; in modern times, a 
title of dignity next in degree below knight and above gentleman; also, a 
title of office and courtesy; -- often shortened to squire.
Note: In England, the title of esquire belongs by right of birth to the 
eldest sons of knights and their eldest sons in perpetual succession; to the 
eldest sons of younger sons of peers and their eldest sons in perpetual 
succession. It is also given to sheriffs, to justices of the peace while in 
commission, to those who bear special office in the royal household, to 
counselors at law, bachelors of divinity, law, or physic, and to others. In 
the United States the title is commonly given in courtesy to lawyers and 
justices of the peace, and is often used in the superscription of letters 
instead of Mr. 

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, (c) 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

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Esquire \Es*quire"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Esquired; p. pr. & vb. n. 
Esquiring.] To wait on as an esquire or attendant in public; to attend. 
[Colloq.] 

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, (c) 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

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Esquire n 1: (in medieval England) an attendant and shield bearer to a 
knight; a candidate for knighthood 2: (British) a title of respect for a 
member of the English gentry ranking just below a knight; placed after the 
name [syn: Esquire, Esq] v : accompany as an escort [syn: escort] 

Source: WordNet (r) 1.6, (c) 1997 Princeton University