πῦρ Ancient Greek · revision 15547

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=ine-pro *péh₂wr̥}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /pŷːr/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈpyr/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈpyr/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''πῦρ''' (pûr) ''n'' (genitive πῠρός); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*pāwər]], [[inh|ine-pro|*péh₂wr̥|t=fire]].^(Wiktionary) It was an old heteroclite noun with /r/ in the nominative and /n/ in the oblique cases, still inflected so in Hittite: [[hit|paḫḫur]], genitive [[m|hit|paḫḫuenaš]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960) Greek eliminated the alternation.^(Beekes 2010) The Linear B word [[gmy|pu-ka-wo]] has been read as “fire-kindlers”.^(Beekes 2010)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[xum|pir|t=fire]], [[xcl|հուր|tr=hur|t=fire]], [[got|𐍆𐍉𐌽|tr=fōn|t=fire]], [[goh|fuir|t=fire]], [[ang|fȳr|t=fire]], [[xto|por|t=fire]] and [[txb|puwar|t=fire]].^(Beekes 2010)^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Homer uses it from the first book of the ''Iliad'' (1.104) for fire: kindling a fire (8.521) and throwing fire on the ships (15.597).^(GLAUx)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was the fire of the hearth and the altar, the fire that tests the purity of gold (Theognis, Pindar, Isocrates), and the destroying fire of war.^(CGL 2021) The funeral fire and lightning were also πῦρ, and it could mean a fever.^(Wiktionary) Heraclitus, Aeschylus and Empedocles treat it as an element, and Parmenides identifies it with the upper air.^(CGL 2021) The word has no plural; [[πυρά|tr=purá]], originally its plural, means watch-fires in the ''Iliad''.^(LSJ 1940)^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ In the New Testament it is fire sent from heaven to punish sinners and the fire of punishment.^(CGL 2021) Medieval Greek kept the word, and Tsakonian has ''πυρέ''.^(Kriaras) Modern Greek ''πυρ'' is learned; its use as a command to fire weapons is a semantic loan from French ''feu''.^(Triantafyllidis 1998) English ''pyro-'' comes from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' uses it for fire and the plural πυρά for watch-fires.^(GLAUx)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Heraclitus treats it as the basic element.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Pindar uses it for the fire that tests gold.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for divine punishment.^(CGL 2021)

+ * Modern Greek – ''πυρ'' is a learned word and a command to fire.^(Triantafyllidis 1998)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|fire|alt=Fire]], flames.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A fire on the hearth or altar; a funeral fire.^(CGL 2021)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Fire as a weapon, destroying fire.^(CGL 2021)

+ # Fire as an [[m|en|element]].^(CGL 2021)

+ # [[m|en|lightning|alt=Lightning]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A [[m|en|fever]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ἔμπυρος|tr=émpuros]]

+ * [[ζάπυρος|tr=zápuros]]

+ * [[κεβλήπυρις|tr=keblḗpuris]]

+ * [[πυρά|tr=purá]]

+ * [[πυρακτέω|tr=puraktéō]]

+ * [[πύρδανον|tr=púrdanon]]

+ * [[πυρέσσω|tr=puréssō]]

+ * [[πυρετός|tr=puretós]]

+ * [[πυρευτικός|tr=pureutikós]]

+ * [[πυρή|tr=purḗ]]

+ * [[πυρία|tr=puríā]]

+ * [[πυριατήριον|tr=puriatḗrion]]

+ * [[πυριγενής|tr=purigenḗs]]

+ * [[πύρινος|tr=púrinos]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|fire]]

+ * [[en|pyro-]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}