pyre C2 Topic:Materials & Substances US /ˈpaɪɚ/ See IPA manual Freq #24327 Meanings 1 noun A large pile of wood on which a dead body is burned as a funeral rite. The villagers built a funeral pyre to honour their dead chief. 2 noun Any large heap of material built to be burned. Flames rose high from the pyre of old furniture in the field. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a large pile of wood on... funeral pyre Word family Forms pyres Related forms empyrealempyreanpyr-pyralpyro- Common collocations funeral pyre Noun + noun Etymology AI details Learned borrowing from Latin pyra (“pyre, funeral pile”), from Ancient Greek πυρά (purá), from πῦρ (pûr, “fire”). Doublet of fire. pyra Latin πυρά Ancient Greek View etymology graph -> Topics Materials & Substances External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # pyre **Type:** Word **Level:** C2 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈpaɪɚ/ **Frequency rank:** 24327 ## Meanings 1. A large pile of wood on which a dead body is burned as a funeral rite. 2. Any large heap of material built to be burned. ## Examples - The villagers built a funeral pyre to honour their dead chief. - Flames rose high from the pyre of old furniture in the field. ## Related Forms - empyreal - empyrean - pyr- - pyral - pyro- ## Roots and Affixes - Root: pyra - Root: πυρά ## Etymology Learned borrowing from Latin pyra (“pyre, funeral pile”), from Ancient Greek πυρά (purá), from πῦρ (pûr, “fire”). Doublet of fire. ## AI Etymology Pyre is a learned borrowing from Latin pyra (“pyre, funeral pile”), from Ancient Greek πυρά (purá), from πῦρ (pûr, “fire”). Doublet of fire. Important recorded forms include pyra (Latin) and πυρά (Ancient Greek). Current senses include a large pile of wood on which a dead body is burned as a funeral rite and any large heap of material built to be burned. The wider family includes related words such as empyreal, empyrean, pyr-, pyral, and pyro-. ## Topics - Materials & Substances markdown