pyre

[pahyuh r]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pyre ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a pile or heap of wood or other combustible material.

such a pile for burning a dead body, especially as part of a funeral rite, as in India.

Origin of pyre

1650–60; < Latin pyra < Greek pyrá hearth, funeral pile

Can be confusedbuyer byre pyre

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pyre

fuel, bonfire, heap, suttee

Examples from the Web for pyre

Contemporary Examples of pyre

Thrown into the Middle East pyre, the Zionism-racism charge has been an accelerant, angering, alienating, polarizing both sides.
Delegitimizing Israel Makes Peace Harder to Achieve
Gil Troy
February 28, 2013
Spectators took photographs of the pyre on their mobile phones.
Where They Still Burn ‘Witches’
Jo Chandler
February 18, 2013

Historical Examples of pyre

The pyre became wrapped in flames, the Warlock began to burn.
Russian Fairy Tales
W. R. S. Ralston
Phyllis dropped down in front of this door and made her second pyre.
Madge Morton's Secret
Amy D. V. Chalmers
The pyre of a man is fired at the head and of a woman at the foot.
The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India - Volume IV of IV
R.V. Russell
Surely it is the smoke of the pyre on which the martyrs have but now perished!
Oxford
Frederick Douglas How
But I do not altogether like the idea of building his pyre just here.
Two Gallant Sons of Devon
Harry Collingwood

British Dictionary definitions for pyre

pyre

noun

a heap or pile of wood or other combustible material, esp one used for cremating a corpse

Word Origin for pyre

C17: from Latin pyra, from Greek pura hearth, from pur fire

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pyre

1650s, from Latin pyra and directly from Greek pyra "funeral pyre; altar for sacrifice; any place where fire is kindled," from pyr "fire," cognate with Old English fyr (see fire (n.)).