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Definition
United States: a lawyer — typically abbreviated after the nameUnited Kingdom: a title of respect for a man
Esquire is also the name of a magazine. As a common noun, esquire was the title of a Middle Ages attendant and shield bearer to a knight. The attendant was also typically a candidate for knighthood. See the linked Wikipedia article for subsequent, but still dated, British usage.
- Jennifer Smith, Esq.
Esq. = a lawyer
- Grubb, Grubb, and Bun-owes would sell by auction the effects of the late Bilbo Baggins Esquire, of Bag-End, Underhill, Hobbiton.J.R.R. Tolkien -- The Hobbit
- This ticket had been sold to J. L. Weatherby, Esq. Its number had been drawn in the second unit drawing, and had been a ticket of the winning horse.Robert A. Heinlein -- Glory Road
- Mr. Arnold Spirit, Jr. Esq., PhD* (Pretty hot Dude).Sherman Alexie -- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
- It will be but the loss of the Esquire after his name.Jane Austen -- Mansfield Park
- It was Phileas Fogg, Esquire.Jules Verne -- Around the World in 80 Days
- It was sent to U. N. Owen, Esq., c/o Isaac Morris, and was understood to be required for the amateur performance of a hitherto unacted play.Agatha Christie -- And Then There Were None
- Behind them, but still upon the dais or elevated portion of the hall, stood the esquires of the Order, in white dresses of an inferior quality.Sir Walter Scott -- Ivanhoe
- It was directed to Philip Pip, Esquire, and on the top of the superscription were the words, "PLEASE READ THIS, HERE."Charles Dickens -- Great Expectations
- May I also present Mr. Bartleby Bumble, Esquire?Libba Bray -- A Great and Terrible Beauty
- 'Well, I am sorry the esquire can't come yet,' says my landlord; 'I should have been heartily glad to have seen him.Daniel Defoe -- Moll Flanders
- So far I've been through a Mademoiselle magazine, an old Esquire from the eighties, a Ms.Margaret Atwood -- The Handmaid's Tale
- I took "Esquire" for a term of reverence, and I think it stood for that with him; we were always aware that Daddy loved him.Eudora Welty -- One Writer's Beginnings
- Oliver glanced at it, and saw that it was directed to Harry Maylie, Esquire, at some great lord's house in the country; where, he could not make out.Charles Dickens -- Oliver Twist
- Forty knights and as many esquires awaited him outside the Red Keep's stables.George R.R. Martin -- A Feast For Crows
- William Dorrit, Esquire Frederick Dorrit, Esquire Edward Dorrit, Esquire Miss Dorrit Miss Amy Dorrit Mrs General and Suite.Charles Dickens -- Little Dorrit
- Courtesy of Daniel J. Murphy, Esq. Lieutenant Murphy and his fiancee.Marcus Luttrell -- Lone Survivor
- I am Robert Shallow, sir; a poor esquire of this county, and one of the king's justices of the peace: what is your good pleasure with me?William Shakespeare -- Henry IV, Part 2
- Copperfield, Esquire,' said the ticket-porter, touching his hat with his little cane.Charles Dickens -- David Copperfield
- Eh! what! it is, I declare, a commission, appointing Richard Jones, Esquire, sheriff of the county.James Fenimore Cooper -- The Pioneers