Etymograph

English

pyro

Pyro comes from Ancient Greek πῦρ ‘fire’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*péh₂wr̥1‘fire’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pāwər1reconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπῦρ2pûr‘fire’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2023pyro2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πῦρ
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pyro
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Metro, London: ““I had told the guy a couple of weeks…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*péh₂wr̥Wiktionary, Ancient Greek πῦρ‘fire’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pāwərWiktionary, Ancient Greek πῦρreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπῦρWiktionary, English pyropûr‘fire’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2023pyroWiktionary, English pyro. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2023, Metro, London: ““I had told the guy a couple of weeks…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥ ‘fire’

fire, fiery, poppy, 16 more

through Ancient Greek πῦρ ‘fire’

bureau, burrito, bertram, burro, pyrite, pyre, 13 more

Today it means

noun A pyromaniac.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pyro”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek πῦρ. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥ / pyro

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