Well that's just as well because it's not...
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'. In Modern French, the cut of meat is called aloyau or faux-filet. A commonly-repeated anecdote claims that the name is derived from an occasion when King James I of England, while being entertained at Hoghton Tower during his return from Scotland in 1617, was so impressed by the quality of his steak that he knighted the loin of beef, which was referred to thereafter as 'Sir loin'. There is no reliable evidence for this explanation and scholars generally hold it to be a myth.
(,
Mon 13 Jan 2020, 8:20,
archived)
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'. In Modern French, the cut of meat is called aloyau or faux-filet. A commonly-repeated anecdote claims that the name is derived from an occasion when King James I of England, while being entertained at Hoghton Tower during his return from Scotland in 1617, was so impressed by the quality of his steak that he knighted the loin of beef, which was referred to thereafter as 'Sir loin'. There is no reliable evidence for this explanation and scholars generally hold it to be a myth.
