*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of pyre

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥ Proto-Hellenic *pāwər Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr)der. Ancient Greek πυρά (purá)bor. Latin pyrabor. English pyre Learned borrowing from Latin pyra (“pyre, funeral pile”), from Ancie

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
noun

A funeral pile; a combustible heap on which corpses are burned. · Any heap or pile of combustibles.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥ Proto-Hellenic *pāwər Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr)der. Ancient Greek πυρά (purá)bor. Latin pyrabor. English pyre Learned borrowing from Latin pyra (“pyre, funeral pile”), from Ancient Greek πυρά (purá), from πῦρ (pûr, “fire”). Doublet of fire.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Learned-borrowing mentionpyrala · pyre, funeral pile
  • Derivation mentionπυράgrc
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "dercat",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grk-pro",
        "3": "ine-pro"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "la:pyra",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥\nProto-Hellenic *pāwər\nAncient Greek πῦρ (pûr)der.\nAncient Greek πυρά (purá)bor.\nLatin pyrabor.\nEnglish pyre\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"bor.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Borrowed from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"pyre\", \"children\" : [ { \"keyword_abbrev\" : \"der.\", \"keyword_label\" : \"Derived from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*péh₂wr̥\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Hellenic\", \"term\" : \"*pāwər\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"grk-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"πῦρ\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"derived\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Ancient Greek\", \"term\" : \"πυρά\", \"lang\" : \"grc\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"pyra\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"pyre\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"pyre\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "lbor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "pyra",
        "t": "pyre, funeral pile"
      },
      "expansion": "Learned borrowing from Latin pyra (“pyre, funeral pile”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "πυρά"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek πυρά (purá)"
    },
    {
      "name": "dbt",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fire"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of fire"
    },
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":bor",
        "3": "la:pyra",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥\nProto-Hellenic *pāwər\nAncient Greek πῦρ (pûr)der.\nAncient Greek πυρά (purá)bor.\nLatin pyrabor.\nEnglish pyre"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*péh₂wr̥",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/péh₂wr̥"
    ],
    [
      "*pāwər",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Hellenic/pāwər"
    ],
    [
      "πῦρ",
      "πῦρ#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "πυρά",
      "πυρά#Ancient_Greek:_pyre"
    ],
    [
      "pyra",
      "pyra#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "pyra",
      "pyra#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "πυρά",
      "πυρά#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
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      "πῦρ#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "fire",
      "fire#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A funeral pile; a combustible heap on which corpses are burned.",
        "Any heap or pile of combustibles."
      ],
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  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for pyre →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cHlyZQ