Etymograph

English

fire

Fire comes from Middle English fyr, from Old English fȳr ‘fire’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*péh₂wr̥reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fōr‘fire’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fuïrreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fuirreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150fȳr‘fire’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fyr
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606fire

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*péh₂wr̥reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fōr‘fire’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fuïrreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fuirreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150fȳr‘fire’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fyr
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606fire

Earliest quotation: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Stars, hide your fires.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥

bureau, poppy, burrito, bertram, pyro, pyrite, burro, pyre, 16 more

through Old English fȳr

furze

through Middle English fyr

fiery

Another origin of fire

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*péh₂wr̥reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fōrreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fuirreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fȳr
  5. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150fȳrian‘to make a fire’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500firen
  7. Englishtodayfire

Today it means

noun A (usually self-sustaining) chemical reaction involving the bonding of oxygen with carbon or other fuel, with the production of heat and the presence of flame or smouldering.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥ / fire

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