<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Sir is an honorific address used in a number of situations in many anglophone cultures . The term can be used as a formal prefix, especially in the Commonwealth, for males who have been given certain honours or titles (such as knights and baronets), where usage is strictly governed by law and custom . </P> <P> The term is also commonly used as a respectful way to address a man, usually of superior social status or holding a commissioned military rank . Equivalent terms of address to females are' ma'am' or' madam' in most cases, or in the case of a young woman, girl, or unmarried woman who prefers to be addressed as such,' miss' . The equivalent term for a knighted woman or baronetess is Dame, or' Lady' for the wife of a knight or baronet . </P> <P>' Sir' derives from the Middle French honorific title sire . Sire developed alongside the word seigneur, also used to refer to a feudal lord . Both derived from the Vulgar Latin senior, sire comes from the nominative case declension senior and seigneur, the accusative case declension seniōrem . </P>

What is the equivalent of sir for females