fir
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /fɜː/
enpr: fûr
ipa: /fɝ/
ipa: /fɪɹ/
ipa: /føː/
note: Liverpool, fair–fur merger
ipa: /feː/
note: Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger
ipa: /fɛː/
homophone: fur (fern–fir–fur merger)
homophone: fair
homophone: fare (both fair–fur merger)
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
Forms: form: firs
Etymology: From Middle English firre, from Old English fyrh, furh, as in furhwudu (“pinewood”), from Proto-West Germanic *furhu, from Proto-Germanic *furhō, *furhijǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *pŕ̥kʷeh₂, from *pérkʷus (“oak”). Possibly conflated during Middle English with Old Norse fýri (as in fýriskógr (“pine-wood”).
Germanic cognates include Dutch vuren, Low German Fuhr, German Föhre (“pine”), Danish fyr). Outside of Germanic, compare Italian (Trentino) porca (“fir”), Latin quercus (“oak”), Albanian shpardh, shparr (“Italian oak”), Punjabi ਪਰਗਾਇ (pargāī, “holm oak, Quercus baloot”)). Related to frith.
Senses: examples: text: A beech wood with silver firs in it rolled down the face of the hill, and the maze of leafless twigs and dusky spires cut sharp against the soft blueness of the evening sky.
ref: 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 1, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:
glosses: A conifer of the genus Abies.
examples: text: we shall find a spot that is sheltered and snug enough, sir. There is a dry fir-wood just ahead, if I remember rightly.
ref: 1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, chapter 3, in The Lord of the Rings:
text: I can almost smell the fir scent… resinous, pungent.
ref: 1991, Paul Chadwick, Concrete: American Christmas, Dark Horse Books:
glosses: Any pinaceous conifer of related genera, especially a Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga) or a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris).
glosses: Wood of such trees.
Synonyms: word: fir-tree
sense: wood
word: firwood
Derived terms: taxonomic: Abies numidica
word: Algerian fir
taxonomic: Abies lasiocarpa
word: alpine fir
taxonomic: Abies amabilis
word: amabilis fir
taxonomic: Abies balsamea
word: American silver fir
word: balsam fir
taxonomic: Abies balsamea
word: balsam of fir
taxonomic: Abies densa
word: Bhutan fir
taxonomic: Pseudotsuga macrocarpa
word: big-cone Douglas fir)
taxonomic: Abies bracteata
word: bristlecone fir
taxonomic: Abies borisii-regis
word: Bulgarian fir
taxonomic: Abies amabilis
word: Cascade fir
taxonomic: Abies nordmanniana
word: Caucasian fir
word: China fir
taxonomic: Cunninghamia spp.
word: Chinese fir
taxonomic: Pinus pinaster
word: cluster fir
taxonomic: Abies concolor
word: Colorado fir
taxonomic: Abies lasiocarpa
word: corkbark fir
taxonomic: Abies arizonica
word: cork fir
taxonomic: Pinus laricio
word: Corsican fir
taxonomic: Pinus sylvestris
word: Danzig fir
word: Douglas fir
word: Douglas-fir
taxonomic: Pseudotsuga menziesii
word: Doug fir
taxonomic: Adelges abietis
word: fir adelgid
word: firbound
taxonomic: Huperzia selago
word: fir clubmoss
word: fir-cone
taxonomic: Penstemon abietinus
word: firleaf beardtongue
word: firless
word: firlike
taxonomic: Phoradendron pauciflorum
word: fir mistletoe
taxonomic: Huperzia spp.
word: firmoss
word: firry
taxonomic: Abies squamata
word: flaky fir
taxonomic: Abies fraseri
word: Fraser fir
taxonomic: Abies grandis
word: giant fir
taxonomic: Abies magnifica
word: golden fir
taxonomic: Abies grandis
word: grand fir
taxonomic: Abies grandis
word: great silver fir
word: Grecian fir
taxonomic: Abies cephalonica
word: Greek fir
taxonomic: Lycopodium obscurum
word: ground fit
taxonomic: Abies guatemalensis
word: Guatemalan fir
taxonomic: Tsuga spp.
word: hemlock fir
taxonomic: Abies spectabilis
word: Himalayan fir
word: jointfir
taxonomic: Ephedra spp.
word: joint fir
taxonomic: Abies koreana
word: Korean fir
taxonomic: Abies amabilis
word: lovely fir
word: lowland fir
taxonomic: Abies grandis
word: lowland white fir
taxonomic: Abies firma
word: momi fir
taxonomic: Abies pinsapo var. marocana
word: Moroccan fir
word: mountain clubmoss
taxonomic: Huperzia appalachiana
word: mountain fir clubmoss
taxonomic: Abies holophylla
word: needle fir
taxonomic: Abies homolepis
word: Nikko fir
taxonomic: Abies procera
word: noble fir
taxonomic: Abies normanniana
word: Nordmann's fir
taxonomic: Abies grandis
word: Oregon fir
taxonomic: Abies amabilis
word: Pacific silver fir
taxonomic: Sciadopitys verticillata
word: parasol fir
taxonomic: Pinus rigida etc.
word: pitch fir
taxonomic: Prumnopitys andina
alt: syn. Podocarpus andinus
word: plum fir
taxonomic: Tsuga heterophylla
word: Prince Albert's fir
taxonomic: Abies magnifica
word: red fir
taxonomic: Abies amabilis
word: red silver fir
taxonomic: Pinus sylvestris
word: Riga fir
taxonomic: Abies lasiocarpa
word: Rocky Nountain fir
taxonomic: Abies religiosa
word: sacred fir
taxonomic: Abies bracteata
word: Santa Lucia fir
word: Scotch fir
taxonomic: Pinus sylvestris
word: Scots fir
taxonomic: Abietinaria abietina
alt: syn. Sertularia abietina
word: sea fir
taxonomic: Abies shastensis
word: Shasta fir
taxonomic: Abies magnifica
word: Shasta red fir
taxonomic: Abies sibirica
word: Siberian fir
taxonomic: Abies densa
word: Sikkim fir
taxonomic: Abies alba
word: silver fir
taxonomic: Abies magnifica
word: silvertip fir
taxonomic: Erigeron eximius
word: sprucefir fleabane
taxonomic: Picea abies
word: spruce fir
taxonomic: Abies lasiocarpa
word: subalpine fir
taxonomic: Abies spp.
word: true fir
taxonomic: Abies nordmanniana subsp. equi-trojani
word: Turkish fir
taxonomic: Abies grandis
word: Vancouver fir
taxonomic: Abies grandis
word: western white fir
taxonomic: Abies concolor
word: white fir
word: yellow fir