The word
sirloin derives from the
Middle English surloine, itself derived from the
Old French word
surloigne (variant of
surlonge), that is,
sur for 'above' and
longe for 'loin'. Therefore, a sirloin is the cut from above the loin. In
Modern French, the cut of meat is called
aloyau or
faux-filet. A fictitious etymology explains the name as being derived from an occasion when a king of England
knighted the loin of beef as "Sir Loin." In fact, though the pun is reported as early as 1630, and the notion of a king knighting it dates to 1655, the name predates any of the kings who are mentioned. The story at most influenced the spelling
sir rather than
sur. == Nutritional Profile ==