Sir-reverence a corruption of
save-reverence (salvâ reverentiâ),
an old formula of apology for introducing any too free or indelicate expression:
“without he say Sir-reverence,”
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, iii. 2.
90
; but inRomeo and Juliet, according to the oldest
reading (followed in the present edition) the word is used nearly in the sense which it
still retains among the vulgar,—
“draw thee from the mire Of this sir-reverence love,”
ROMEO AND JULIET, i. 4. 42.
A General Glossary to Shakespeare's Works. Alexander Dyce. Boston. Dana Estes and Company. 1904.
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