Etymologically
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fire

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /faɪə/, US /ˈfaɪ.ɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fir, inherited from Old English fȳr,[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *fūr-,[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *paəwr̥ (“fire”).[4][2] The American Heritage Dictionary explains that Indo-European had a pair of words for fire, one inanimate, for fire as a substance, which English inherited, and one animate and personified, *egni-, the source of Latin ignis and of English ignite.[4][2] Its relatives include German Feuer and Dutch vuur, and outside Germanic Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr, “fire”), the source of pyre and pyro-, and Hittite paḫḫur.[3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Fire, a fire: Old English fȳr, about 725.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The spelling fir is found in 1122, and fier about 1250, a spelling kept in fiery.[3] Fire first appears about 1200, in the Ormulum, but did not fully replace fier until about 1600.[3][2] “A burnt child dreads the fire” is in the Proverbs of Hendyng (about 1250).[2] Burning passion has been fire since the mid-14th century,[2][7] and the shooting of guns since the 1580s.[2] The verb meant “to rouse, inflame” about 1200 and “to set on fire” in the late 14th century, in Gower;[2][3] the Old English verb fȳrian, “to supply with fire”, did not survive.[3][2] “To shoot a gun” is from the 1520s, “to bake (pottery)” from the 1660s, and fire away from 1775.[2] Fire in the sense “to dismiss from a job” is American, from 1877, probably a play on the two senses of discharge.[2] Fire escape is from 1788 and fire extinguisher from 1826.[2] Play with fire is from 1861, and the American where's the fire? from 1917.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English fȳr.[3]
  • c. 1200 – the spelling fire; verb, to inflame.[3][2]
  • mid-14th century – passion.[2]
  • late 14th century – verb, to set on fire.[2]
  • 1520s – to shoot a gun.[2]
  • 1580s – gunfire.[2]
  • 1660s – to bake pottery.[2]
  • 1788 – fire escape.[2]
  • 1877 – to dismiss from a job.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The process of burning, giving out heat, light and flame; combustion.
  2. Burning fuel, as in a fireplace or stove.
  3. A destructive burning, as of a building.
  4. Burning feeling; ardour or enthusiasm.
  5. Brilliance, as of a cut gem.
  6. The shooting of firearms: under fire.

Verb

  1. To set on fire; to ignite.
  2. To bake in a kiln.
  3. To stir up; to inspire.
  4. To shoot a gun or launch a missile; to throw.
  5. To dismiss from a job.

Word family

  • fireable
  • firer
  • fireless
  • afire
  • backfire
  • balefire
  • bonfire
  • brush-fire
  • fiery
  • pyre
  • pyro-
  • ignite
  • firework

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press