Word Origin & History
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.
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.