esquire

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A man or boy who is a member of the gentry in England ranking directly below a knight.
2. n. 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. n. In medieval times, a candidate for knighthood who served a knight as an attendant and a shield bearer.
4. n. Archaic An English country gentleman; a squire.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A shield-bearer or armor-bearer; an armiger; an attendant on a knight. See squire, 1.
2. n. A title of dignity next in degree below that of knight. In England this title is properly given to the eldest sons of knights and the eldest sons of the younger sons of noblemen and their eldest sons in succession, officers of the king's courts and of the household, barristers, justices of the peace while in commission, sheriffs, gentlemen who have held commissions in the army and navy, etc. There are also esquires of knights of the Bath, each knight appointing three at his installation. The title is now usually conceded to all professional and literary men. In the United States the title is regarded as belonging especially to lawyers. In legal and other formal documents Esquire is usually written in full after the names of those considered entitled to the designation; in common usage it is abbreviated Esq. or Esqr., and appended to any man's name as a mere mark of respect, as in the addresses of letters (though this practice is becoming less prevalent than formerly). In the general sense, and as a title either alone or prefixed to a name, the form Squire has always been the more common in familiar use. See squire.
3. n. A gentleman who attends or escorts a lady in public.
4. To attend; wait on; escort, as a gentleman attending a lady in public. Todd. See squire, verb
5. n. In heraldry, a bearing somewhat resembling the gyron, but extending across the field so that the point touches the opposite edge of the escutcheon.

Wiktionary

1. n. archaic a squire; a youth who in the hopes of becoming a knight attended upon a knight
2. n. a lawyer
3. n. obsolete a shield-bearer, but also applied to other attendants.
4. n. a male member of the gentry ranking below a knight
5. n. an honorific sometimes placed after a man's name
6. n. A gentleman who attends or escorts a lady in public.
7. v. transitive, obsolete To attend, wait on, escort.
8. n. heraldry A bearing somewhat resembling a gyron, but extending across the field so that the point touches the opposite edge of the escutcheon.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. 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.
2. v. colloq. To wait on as an esquire or attendant in public; to attend.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a title of respect for a member of the English gentry ranking just below a knight; placed after the name
2. n. (Middle Ages) an attendant and shield bearer to a knight; a candidate for knighthood