surly adj.

title of honor of a knight or baronet (until 17c. also a title of priests), c. 1300, a variant of sire (q.v.) that was used originally only in unstressed position. It is not an acronym of anything.

It was generalized as a respectful form of address by mid-14c., and eventually extended to all equals or used without regard for rank. It has been used as a salutation at the beginning of letters from early 15c. As a noun, "person of rank or importance," from 14c.

suffix forming adjectives from nouns and meaning "having qualities of, of the form or nature of" (manly, lordly), "appropriate to, fitting, suited to" (bodily, earthly, daily); irregularly descended from Old English -lic, from Proto-Germanic *-liko- (Old Frisian -lik, Dutch -lijk, Old High German -lih, German -lich, Old Norse -ligr), related to *likom- "appearance, form" (Old English lich "corpse, body;" see lich, which is a cognate; see also like (adj.), with which it is identical).