Middle English Dictionary Entry
fīren adj.
Entry Info
| Forms | fīren adj. Also firene, furen. |
| Etymology | OE fȳren. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Flaming, fiery, fire-like; ~ colour, fiery red; ~ slaght, lightning; (b) of snakes: causing a stinging pain; of a wound: stinging, painful.
Associated quotations
a
- c1175(?OE) HRood (Bod 343)12/2 : Ða wurdon heo feringæ all fyrenne ant me bicom swa mycel fyrht on..þet ic on eorþan feol.
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)18863 : Of his eȝene scullen fleon furene gleden.
- c1225(?c1200) St.Kath.(1) (Einenkel)1403 : Þe hali gast, þe in furene tungen ontende þe apostles.
- c1230(?a1200) *Ancr.(Corp-C 402)96a : Þeose twa þinges..wa & scheome..beoð helyes hweoles þe weren furene.
- (a1382) WBible(1) (Dc 370)4 Kings 2.11 : The fijren chaare and the fijren hors deuyden euer either; and Helyas steyȝide vp by the whirlwynde in to heuen.
- (?a1390) Daniel *Herbal (Add 27329)f.177ra : Aspalon .. is lyk a whyt thorn, & it hatz firene color [L (Bartholomaeus 17.25): igneum] or red rudy; in vere it smelleth as castore.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)18927 : A firen tung on ilkan light..And qui þai come in firen sight.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)22680 : Als thoner dos wit firen [Phys-E: firin] slaght.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)23257 : Firend [Phys-E: firin; Göt: firen] bandes es þe nind [pain of hell]..Þat al þair limes ar bunden wit.
- c1425(?c1400) Wycl.Apol.(Dub 245)98 : Þe firun dartis of the enemy.
b
- c1175 Orm.(Jun 1)17422-8 : Þa firene neddress..Off þatt firene wunde.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- a1500 ?Scrope Ribot First Monks (Lamb 192)60/8 : Whan they, goynge togyder, talkyd goostly, beheeld a fyern char and a fyern hors apperyd, the whiche devydyd eche of them fro other.
- a1500 ?Scrope Ribot First Monks (Lamb 192)61/32 : He was rauesched in a fyerin char fro mannys thynges, as Holy Scriptur wyttenessyth ryth opynly.
Note: New form(s).
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- ?c1400(1379) Daniel *Treat.Uroscopy (Roy 17.D.1)[ref here] : Þat þe vryn is swich colour is be cause of huge hete and brennyng and bulying of þe mater in þe body, and..when þat is myxt wiþ þe vryn, it makeþ hym suptil & thenne & ferrene.
Note: New spelling = ferrene. Of ferrene, Harvey and Tavormina note: "A difficult word, complicated by the fact that the medial -re- is an expanson of an -er/-re curl above the word in RM7. Variants include ferene (A), ferne (W), frene (E), and feruente (J), with added surrounding material related to heat, inflammation, and fire, so the best gloss appears to be 'fiery' (cf. MED, s.v. firen [adj.], sense [a])."