fir

See also: FIR, fir-, and fír

English
A fir tree (Abies balsamea)

Etymology

From Middle English firre, from either Old Norse fýri (as in fýriskógr (“pine-wood”)[1] or Old English fyrh, furh (as in furhwudu (“pinewood”),[2] from Proto-Germanic *furhō, *furhijǭ (compare Dutch vuren, Low German Fuhr, German Föhre (“pine”), Danish fyr), from Proto-Indo-European *pŕ̥kʷeh₂ (compare Italian (Trentino) porca (“fir”), from *pérkʷus (“oak”) (compare Latin quercus (“oak”), Albanian shpardh, shparr (“Italian oak”), Punjabi ਪਰਗਾਇ (pargāī, “holm oak, Quercus baloot”)). Related to frith.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /fɜː(ɹ)/
  • Audio (UK)(file)
  • (US) enPR: fûr, IPA(key): /fɝ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • (Scotland), IPA(key): /fɪɹ/
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(r)
  • Homophone: fur (with the fir-fur merger)

Noun

fir (countable and uncountable, plural firs)

  1. (chiefly countable) A conifer of the genus Abies.
    • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict‎:
      A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled down the face of the hill, and the maze of leafless twigs and dusky spires cut sharp against the soft blueness of the evening sky.
  2. (chiefly countable) Any pinaceous conifer of related genera, especially a Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga) or a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris).
    • 1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, chapter 3, in The Lord of the Rings:
      we shall find a spot that is sheltered and snug enough, sir. There is a dry fir-wood just ahead, if I remember rightly.
    • 1991, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: American Christmas, Dark Horse Books
      I can almost smell the fir scent… resinous, pungent.
  3. (uncountable) Wood of such trees.

Synonyms
  • (all countable senses): fir tree

Derived terms

Translations

References
  1. Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd edn., s.v. "fir" (Oxford, 2000).
  2. J.P. Mallory, Douglas Q. Adams, eds., Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture s.v. "oak", "pine" (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997), pp. 407, 428-9.

Anagrams

Irish

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /fʲɪɾʲ/

Noun

fir m

  1. inflection of fear (“man; husband”):
    1. vocative and genitive singular
    2. nominative and dative plural

Mutation
Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
fir fhir bhfir
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Old High German furi, from Proto-Germanic *furi. Cognate with German für, English for.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /fiːʀ/, [ˈfiː.ɐ], [fiə̯]
  • IPA(key): /fe(ʀ)/, [fɐ], [fə] (reduced)
  • Homophone: vir

Preposition

fir (+ accusative)

  1. for

Derived terms
  • fir datt
  • fir d'éischt
  • fir ze

Manx

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /fɪr/

Noun

fir

  1. plural of fer

Mutation
Manx mutation
RadicalLenitionEclipsis
firirvir
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

fir

  1. imperative of fire

Old Irish

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /fʲirʲ/

Noun

fir

  1. vocative singular of fer
  2. genitive singular of fer
  3. nominative plural of fer

Mutation
Old Irish mutation
RadicalLenitionNasalization
fir ḟir fir
pronounced with /v(ʲ)-/
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Romanian

Etymology

From Latin fīlum, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰiH-(s-)lo-.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /fir/

Noun

fir n (plural fire)

  1. thread, string, filament, wire
  2. (fir de păr) a hair

Derived terms

See also

Scottish Gaelic

Noun

fir m

  1. genitive singular of fear
  2. nominative plural of fear

Mutation
Scottish Gaelic mutation
RadicalLenition
firfhir
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.
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