fireless

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥

Proto-Germanic *fōr

Proto-West Germanic *fuir

Old English fȳr

Middle English fyr

Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der.

Proto-Germanic *leusaną

Proto-Germanic *lausaz

Proto-Germanic *-lausaz

Proto-West Germanic *-laus

Old English -lēas

Middle English -les

Middle English fyrles

English fireless

Inherited from Middle English fyrles. By surface analysis, fire + -less.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪ.ələs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪ.ɚləs/

Adjective

fireless (not comparable)

1. Without fire.

   a fireless cooker

   • 1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 262:

     Nungi, hungry and weary, had come to a fireless and supperless hut, and, after firemaking, was busy preparing supper for himself and Woona—she sitting calmly watching him.

   • 1989, Octavia E. Butler, “Part III, Chapter 5”, in Imago, page 202:

     We had made a fireless camp.

Derived terms

• firelessly
• firelessness

Translations

without fire

• Finnish: tuleton
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἄπυρος (ápuros)