Middle English Dictionary Entry

fīr n.
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Entry Info

Forms fīr n. Also fier, vir, fer, ver, feir, veir, fur, fuir, vur, feur, feor, foir, (?same word) for.
Etymology OE fȳr.

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

1a.
(a) Fire as a physical phenomenon;--without article; (b) the fire of hell; helle-fir, eche fir.
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1b.
(a) fir-brenning, a burn; ~ coles, embers; fir-drake, ~ dragon, a fiery dragon; ~ flaume, a flame; fir-isles, embers, ashes; ~ speuere, a fire-spewing monster; (b) fir-hot, ~ red, red-hot; (c) laien ~ on (to), setten or bringen on (to) fire, set on fire, make burn or burn up; taken or brennen on ~, catch fire, start to burn; on fire, in flames.
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2a.
A (particular) fire, as in a fireplace, an oven, or in the open; esi ~, smert ~, etc.; -- with article, etc.; Seint Margaretes ~, ?a bonfire in celebration of St. Margaret's day (20 July).
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2b.
(a) fir-belowes, ~ blouer, bellows; ~ forke, ~ pele, ~ rake, ~ scomer, ~ shovel, fire shovel, rake, peel; ~ mace, ~ pike, ~ purre, ~ staff, poker; ~ tonges, tongs; (b) ~ herth, hearth; ~ panne, ~ plate, ~ vessel, fire pot, ash pan; ~ screne, screen; (c) ~ pit, a pit for burning lime; (d) ~ man, fire tender.
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3.
(a) Material for a fire; fuel, firewood; (b) fir-stik, ~ stok, ~ wode, fire-wood, etc.; (c) fir-bote, the right of a tenant to gather firewood; (d) ~ silver, ?a payment for taking firewood.
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4.
(a) A live coal or a torch for starting a fire; also fig.; fecchen fir; cp. fir-brond; (b) sparks (struck from flint or armor, etc.); (c) fir-iren, a steel implement for striking sparks from flint; ~ ston, flint; ~ striker, one who strikes sparks; ? = fir-iren.
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5.
(a) A destructive fire, a conflagration; wild ~; ~ and swerd; (b) fir-blast, conflagration; ~ hok, a hook used in fighting a conflagration.
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6.
(a) grekish fir, fir gregeis [OF feu gregois], wilde fir, a highly inflammable composition used in warfare; Greek fire, wildfire; (b) fir-barel, a container filled with wildfire.
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7.
Fire as light: (a) a flame, lamp, torch; (b) wacche-fir, fir-bome, beacon; (c) fir-peni, a custom levied on ships for the support of beacons.
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8.
(a) Lightning; fir-light, ~ slaght, hevenes ~, levenes ~; (b) heat (as from the sun).
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9.
The 'element' fire: (a) phys. as contained in pure form in the realm of fire just above the region of the air; (b) as the simple substance present in all material bodies and determining their nature, properties, 'complexion', etc.; (c) alch. as an agent of chemical or physical change; also, any one of the various kinds or forms of the element fire as a menstruum: elemental fir, actual ~, visible ~, ~ of flame, fire of combustion; natural ~, the latent heat of all matter as causing putrefaction, etc.; innatural (occasionat) ~, artificial heat as from fermenting dung, lime bath, etc.; ~ against nature, ?the universal solvent, the alkahest; potential or double ~, a corrosive agent, an acid.
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10.
Alch. (a) Any of various kinds of heat or degrees of heat used as an agent in an operation; (b) such heat identified as to the operation in which it is used: fir of desiccation; ~ of conservacion, ~ of illucion; (c) such heat identified as to its source or some particular characteristic of its source: fir of flame, dri ~; ~ of bath, moist ~; ~ of ash.
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11.
Med. (a) Inflamation, or its painful effects; (b) any one of several diseases of the skin and flesh, as erysipeles or gangrene; ~ of hel, ~ of Perse, ~ of seint Antoni, ~ of seint Martial, cursed ~, holi ~, sharp ~, wilde ~; fleing ~.
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12.
(a) Heat or vehemence (of wrath, jealousy, lust, etc.), passion; loves fir, ardent love; (b) comen on fir, grow passionate; setten on ~, arouse passion, inflame; (c) fir of thought, ardent or vigorous thinking.
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13.
Ardent devotion to Christian ideals or to God (as purifying the soul); that which arouses such devotion; holi fir, gostli ~.
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14.
Proverbs.
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Supplemental Materials (draft)

  • ?c1400(1379) Daniel *Treat.Uroscopy (Roy 17.D.1)f.49ra (2.6) : Mars..is rede os fyur colour & sparkelond.
Note: New spelling: fyur.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. fire.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 11.(b)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. fire of hell.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 11.(b)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. fire of Saint Antony.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 11.(b)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. fire of Saint Martial.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 11.(b)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. holy fire.

Supplemental Materials (draft)

Note: Med., etc. (sense 4.(c)), see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. fire iron.

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