Online Etymology Dictionary

fire (v.): c.1200, furen, figurative, "arouse, excite;" literal sense of "set fire to" is from late 14c., from fire (n.). The O.E. verb fyrian "to supply with fire" apparently did not survive into M.E. The sense of "sack, dismiss" is first recorded 1885 in Amer.Eng., probably from a play on the two meanings of discharge: "to dismiss from a position," and "to fire a gun," the second sense being from "set fire to gunpowder," attested from 1520s. Related: Fired; firing. Fired up "angry" is from 1824.
fire (n.): O.E. fyr, from P.Gmc. *fuir (cf. O.Fris. fiur, O.N. fürr, M.Du. vuur, Ger. Feuer), from PIE *perjos, from root *paewr- (cf. Armenian hur "fire, torch," Czech pyr "hot ashes," Gk. pyr, Umbrian pir, Skt. pu, Hittite pahhur "fire"). Current spelling is attested as early as 1200, but did not fully displace M.E. fier (preserved in fiery) until c.1600. PIE apparently had two roots for fire: *paewr- and *egni- (cf. L. ignis). The former was "inanimate," referring to fire as a substance, and the latter was "animate," referring to it as a living force (see water). Fire applied in English to passions, feelings, from mid-14c. Firecracker is Amer.Eng. coinage for what is in England just cracker, but the U.S. word distinguishes it from the word meaning "biscuit." To play with fire "risk disaster" is from 1887; phrase where's the fire? "what's the hurry?" first recorded 1924.
fireman: late 14c., “tender of a fire,” from fire + man. As "person hired to put out (rather than tend) fires" is from 1714.
firewall: 1851 as a physical wall meant to prevent the spread of fire in a structure, from fire (n.) + wall. Computer sense is by 1997.
fireworks: 1570s, from fire (n.) + works.
firebrand: probably late 13c., from fire + brand. Figurative sense of "one who kindles mischief or passions" is from late 14c.
firefighter: 1903, from fire (n.) + fighter.
fireplace: c.1700, from fire (n.) + place.
firearm: 1640s, from fire (n.) + arm (2). Related: Firearms.
firefly: 1650s, from fire + fly.
igneous: 1664, from L. igneus "of fire, fiery," from ignis "fire," from PIE *egni- (cf. Skt. agnih "fire, sacrificial fire," O.C.S. ogni, Lith. ugnis "fire").
backfire: 1839, Amer.Eng., originally "a fire deliberately lit ahead of an advancing prairie fire to deprive it of fuel," from back + fire (v.). As a verb in this sense, recorded from 1886. The meaning "premature ignition in an internal-combustion engine" is first recorded 1897. Of schemes, plans, etc., "affect the initiator rather than the intended object" it is attested from 1912, a fig. use from the accidental back-firing of firearms.
sbirro: It. policeman, 1668, from It., "police officer" (pl. sbirri), from L.L. birrus "red," from Gk. pyrros "red," lit. "fire-colored," from pyr "fire" (see fire).
wildfire: O.E., from wild (adj.) + fire (n.). Originally in ref. to spreading skin diseases; meaning "destructive fire" is attested from 1122; fig. sense is recorded from c.1300.
brand new: c.1570, from brand. Originally it must have meant "fresh from the fire" (Shakespeare has fire-new).
conflagrate: 1650s, "to catch fire," from L. conflagrat-, pp. stem of conflagrare (see conflagration). Meaning "to set on fire" is from 1835.
empyrean: mid-14c. (as empyre), from Gk. empyros "fiery," from pyr "fire;" confused by early writers with imperial. In Gk. cosmology, the highest heaven, the sphere of pure fire; later baptized with a Christian gloss as "the abode of God and the angels."
volcano: 1610s, from It. vulcano "burning mountain," from L. Vulcanus "Vulcan," Roman god of fire, also "fire, flames, volcano" (see Vulcan). The name was first applied to Mt. Etna by the Romans, who believed it was the forge of Vulcan.
inflame: mid-14c., "to set on fire with passion," figurative use of L. inflammare "to set on fire, kindle," from in- "in" + flammare "to flame," from flamma "flame" (see flame). Literal sense of "to cause to burn" first recorded in English late 14c.
Azerbaijan: country name, of unknown origin, perhaps from O.Pers. Aturpatakan, from Gk. Atropatene, from the Pers. Atropates, who ruled there in the time of Alexander the Great; or from local azer "fire" + baydjan (Iranian baykan) "guardian," in ref. to fire-worship.
anneal: O.E. onælan "to set on fire, kindle," from on- "on" + ælan "to burn, bake," from P.Gmc. *ailan, related to O.E. æled "fire, firebrand."
fusilier: 1680, "soldier armed with a musket," from Fr. fusilier, from O.Fr. fusil "musket," earlier "steel for a tinderbox," from V.L. *focilis (petra) "(stone) producing fire," from L. focus "hearth," in V.L. "fire." Retained by certain regiments of the British army that were formerly armed with fusils.
curfew: early 14c., from Anglo-Fr. coeverfu (late 13c.), from O.Fr. covrefeu, lit. "cover fire," from couvre, imper. of couvrir "to cover" + feu "fire." The medieval practice of ringing a bell at fixed time in the evening as an order to bank the hearths and prepare for sleep. The original purpose was to prevent conflagrations from untended fires. The modern extended sense of "periodic restriction of movement" had evolved by 1800s.
Archibald: male proper name, from O.H.G. Erchanbald, lit. "genuine bold," from erchan "genuine" + bald (see bold). Archie, British WWI military slang for "German anti-aircraft fire" (1915) supposedly is from black humor of airmen dodging hostile fire and thinking of the refrain of a popular music hall song, "Archibald, certainly not!"
pyrite: "metallic iron disulfide," 1555, from O.Fr. pyrite (12c.), from L. pyrites, from Gk. pyrites lithos "stone of fire, flint" (so called because it glitters), from pyr (gen. pyros) "fire" (see pyre).
pyro-: comb. form meaning "fire," from Gk. pyro-, combining form of pyr (gen. pyros) "fire" (see pyre).
cross-fire: also crossfire, 1860, from cross (adj.) + fire.
Beltane: early 15c., from Lowland Scottish, from Gaelic bealltainn "May 1," important Celtic religious rite marking the start of summer, probably lit. "blazing fire," from PIE base *bhel- (1) "to shine, flash, burn" (see bleach) + O.Ir. ten "fire," from PIE *tepnos, related to L. tepidus "warm." But this derivation of the second element is hotly disputed by some on philological grounds, and fires were equally important in the other Celtic holidays. Also known as "Old May Day," because after the 1752 calendar reform it continued to be reckoned according to Old Style; it was one of the quarter-days of ancient Scotland.
burn: 12c., combination of O.N. brenna "to burn, light," and two originally distinct O.E. verbs: bærnan "to kindle" (trans.) and beornan "to be on fire" (intrans.), both from P.Gmc. *brennan, *branajan (cf. M.Du. bernen, Du. branden, O.H.G. brinnan, Ger. brennen, Goth. brannjan), perhaps from PIE *gwher- "to heat, warm" (see warm), or from PIE *bhre-n-u, from base *bhreue- "to boil forth, well up" (see brew). Related: Burned; burning. Figuratively (of passions, battle, etc.) in O.E. Meaning "cheat, swindle, victimize" is first attested 1650s. As a noun, from 1520s. Slow burn first attested 1938, in reference to U.S. movie actor Edgar Kennedy, who made it his specialty. To burn one's bridges (behind one) "behave so as to destroy any chance of returning to a status quo" attested by 1892 in Mark Twain, perhaps ultimately from cavalry raids in the Civil War. Slavic languages have historically used different and unrelated words for the transitive and intransitive senses of "set fire to"/"be on fire:" cf. Pol. palic'/gorsec, Rus. žeč'/gorel.
ignis fatuus: "will o' the wisp, jack-a-lantern," 1563, from M.L., lit. "foolish fire." It seems once to have been more common than presently.
pyre: 1658, from L. pyra, from Gk. pyra "a hearth, funeral pyre," from pyr (gen. pyros) "fire," cognate with O.E. fyr (see fire).
salamander: mid-14c., "a legendary lizard-like creature that can live in fire," from O.Fr. salamandre (12c.), from L. salamandra, from Gk. salamandra, probably of eastern origin. The application to an actual amphibian is first recorded 1610s. Aristotle, and especially Pliny, are responsible for the fiction of an animal that thrives in and extinguishes fires. The amphibian lives in damp logs and secretes a milky substance when threatened, but there is no obvious natural explanation its connection with the myth. Also used 18c. for "a woman who lives chastely in the midst of temptations" (after Addison), and "a soldier who exposes himself to fire in battle." To rub someone a salamander was a 19c. form of Ger. student drinking toast (einem einen salamander reiben).
brand: O.E. brand, brond "fire, flame; firebrand, piece of burning wood, torch," and (poetic) "sword," from P.Gmc. *brandaz (cf. O.N. brandr, O.H.G. brant, O.Fris. brond "firebrand, blade of a sword," Ger. brand "fire"), from base *bran-/*bren- (see burn). Meaning of "identifying mark made by a hot iron" (1550s) broadened 1827 to "a particular make of goods." Brand name is from 1922. As a verb, brand is attested from c.1400. Related: Branded; branding.
bonfire: 1550s, from M.E. banefire (late 15c.), originally a fire in which bones were burned.
ingle: "fireplace," 1508, from Scot., probably from Gael. aingeal "fire," of uncertain origin.
Hephaestus: 1658, Gk. god of fire and metal-working, Roman spelling of Gk. Hephaistos, a pre-Hellenic word of unknown origin.
ether: late 14c., from L. æther "the upper pure, bright air," from Gk. aither "upper air," from aithein "to burn, shine," from I.E. base *aidh- "to burn" (cf. Skt. inddhe "burst into flames," O.Ir. aed "fire," L. aedes, see edify). In ancient cosmology, the element that filled all space beyond the sphere of the moon, constituting the substance of the stars and planets. Conceived of as a purer form of fire or air, or as a fifth element. From 17c.-19c., it was the scientific word for an assumed "frame of reference" for forces in the universe, perhaps without material properties. The concept was shaken by the Michelson-Morley experiment (1887) and discarded after the Theory of Relativity won acceptance, but before it went it gave rise to the colloquial use of ether for "the radio" (1899). The name also was bestowed 1757 on a volatile chemical compound for its lightness and lack of color (its anesthetic properties weren't fully established until 1842).
carbon: 1789, coined 1780s in Fr. by Lavoisier as charbone, from L. carbo (gen. carbonis) "glowing coal, charcoal," from PIE base *ker- "heat, fire, to burn" (cf. L. cremare "to burn;" Skt. krsna "black, burnt," kudayati "singes;" Lith. kuriu "to heat," karštas "hot," krosnis "oven;" O.C.S. kurjo "to smoke," krada "fireplace, hearth;" Rus. ceren "brazier;" O.H.G. harsta "roasting;" Goth. hauri "coal;" O.N. hyrr "fire;" O.E. heorð "hearth"). Carbon 14, long-lived radioactive isotope used in dating organic deposits, is from 1936. Carbon dating (using carbon 14) is recorded from 1958. Carbon cycle is attested from 1912. Carbon footprint was in use by 2001. Carbon paper (soon to be obsolete) is from 1895.
annus mirabilis: 1667, L., lit. "wonderful year," title of a publication by Dryden, with ref. to 1666, which, paradoxically, was a year of calamities in London (plague, fire, war), but Dryden seemed to feel it could have been worse.
cotter: 1640s, perhaps a shortened form of cotterel, a dial. word for "cotter pin or bolt, bracket to hang a pot over a fire" (1570), itself of uncertain origin.
dragoon: 1622, from Fr. dragon "carbine, musket," because the guns the soldiers carried "breathed fire" like a dragon. The verb is from 1689, lit. "to force by the agency of dragoons" (which were used by the Fr. kings to persecute Protestants).
vulcanize: 1827, "to put into flames," from Vulcan (q.v.), name of the Roman god of fire, + -ize. As a treatment for rubber, first recorded 1846.
Cottonian: library in the British Museum, named for antiquarian Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1570-1631). He donated some book to the state and his grandson donated the rest. It was badly damaged in a fire in 1731.
Sten: type of light, rapid-fire submachine gun, 1942, from initials of surnames of designers R.V. Shepherd and H.J. Turpin + En(field) (see Bren).
hang: a fusion of O.E. hon "suspend" (transitive, class VII strong verb; past tense heng, pp. hangen), and O.E. hangian (weak, intransitive, past tense hangode) "be suspended;" also probably influenced by O.N. hengja "suspend," and hanga "be suspended." All from P.Gmc. *khang-, from PIE *keng- "to waver, be in suspense" (cf. Goth. hahan, Hittite gang- "to hang," Skt. sankate "wavers," L. cunctari "to delay;" see also second element in Stonehenge). Hung emerged as pp. 16c. in northern England dial., and hanged endured only in legal language (which tends to be conservative) and metaphors extended from it (I'll be hanged). Teen slang sense of "spend time" first recorded 1951; hang around "idle, loiter" is from 1830, and hang out (v.) is from 1844. Hang fire (1781) was originally used of guns that were slow in communicating the fire through the vent to the charge. Hanger-on is from 1549. To get the hang of (something) "understand" is from 1845. Hang-up "psychological fixation" is first attested 1959. To let it all hang out "be relaxed and uninhibited" is from 1970.
fiery: c.1275, from M.E. fier "fire," the offbeat spelling is a relic of one of the attempts to render O.E. "y" in fyr in a changing system of vowel sounds.
ceasefire: 1847, as a military command, from cease + fire in the gun sense. Meaning "a cessation of shooting" is recorded from 1918. Generally two words until after mid-20c.
misfire (v.): 1752, of a gun, 1905, of an internal combustion engine; see mis- (1) + fire (v.). The noun is attested from 1839.
giaour: 1564, Turk. term of contempt for non-Muslims, from Pers. gaur, variant of gabr "fire-worshipper," originally applied to the adherents of the Zoroastrian religion.
Elmo: of St. Elmo's Fire, probably from Gk. elene "torch," via an apocryphal saint.