pyr-

American  

1. variant of pyro-, used before h or a vowel.

   pyran.

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pyr- British  

combining form

1. a variant of pyro-

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Usage

What does pyr- mean? Pyr- is a combining form used like a prefix that has two distinct senses.The first of these senses is “fire,” "heat," or "high temperature," and this form of pyr- is very occasionally used in a variety of scientific and technical terms.The second of these senses is used in terms from chemistry to mean “inorganic acids” or "the salt of inorganic acids."Pyr- in both of these senses comes from Greek pŷr, meaning “fire.” The Latin translations of pŷr are ignis and incendium, both of which also mean “fire” and are the sources of terms such as ignite and incendiary. To learn more, check out our entries for both words.What are variants of pyr-?When combined with words or word elements that begin with a consonant, pyr- becomes pyro-, as in pyrogen. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article on pyro-.Not every word that begins with the exact letters pyr-, such as pyramid or pyrene, is necessarily using the combining form pyr- to denote “fire.” Learn why pyrene means “fruit stone” at our entry for the word.