also fire-plug, 1713, from fire (n.) + plug (n.).

before vowels pyr-, word-forming element form meaning "fire," from Greek pyr (genitive pyros) "fire, funeral fire," also symbolic of terrible things, rages, "rarely as an image of warmth and comfort" [Liddell & Scott], from PIE root *paewr- "fire." Pyriphlegethon, literally "fire-blazing," was one of the rivers of Hell.

*paəwr-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "fire."

It forms all or part of: antipyretic; burro; empyreal; empyrean; fire; pyracanth; pyre; pyretic; pyrexia; pyrite; pyro-; pyrolusite; pyromania; pyrrhic; sbirro.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit pu, Hittite pahhur "fire;" Armenian hur "fire, torch;" Czech pyr "hot ashes;" Greek pyr, Umbrian pir "fire;" Old English fyr, German Feuer "fire."

also fire-brand, c. 1200, "piece of wood kindled at a fire, a piece of something burning," from fire (n.) + brand (n.). Used for spreading fire. Figurative sense of "one who kindles mischief or passions" is from late 14c.

also fire-place, c. 1700, from fire (n.) + place (n.).

late Old English wilde fyr "destructive fire" (perhaps caused by lightning); also "erysipelas, spreading skin disease;" see wild (adj.) + fire (n.). From c. 1300 as "Greek fire," also fire rained down from the sky as divine retribution. Figurative sense from late 14c. By 1795 as "sheet lightning."

late 13c., "flaming, full of fire," from Middle English fier "fire" (see fire (n.)) + -y (2). The spelling is a relic of one of the attempts to render Old English "y" in fyr in a changing system of vowel sounds. Other Middle English spellings include firi, furi, fuiri, vuiri, feri. From c. 1400 as "blazing red." Of persons, from late 14c. Related: Fieriness. As adjectives Old English had fyrbære "fiery, fire-bearing;" fyren "of fire, fiery, on fire;" fyrenful; fyrhat "hot as fire."

"pile or heap of wood or other combustible materials for burning a dead body," 1650s, from Latin pyra and directly from Greek pyra (Ionic pyrē) "funeral pyre; altar for sacrifice; watch-fire; hearth; any place where fire is kindled," from pyr "fire" (from PIE root *paewr- "fire," source also of fire (n.)). Related: Pyral.

also fire-wall, 1851 as a physical wall meant to prevent the spread of fire in a structure, from fire (n.) + wall (n.). Computer sense (originally figurative) is by 1990.

also brush-fire, "a blaze in brush or scrub," 1848, from brush (n.2) + fire (n.).