fir
/fɜː/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.48 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any pinaceous conifer of related genera, especially a Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga) or a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris).
Countable
adj
Initialism of finite impulse response; that has impulse response (or response to any finite length input) of finite duration.
noun
Initialism of flight information region; a specified region of airspace in which a flight information service (FIS) and an alerting service (ALRS) are provided.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "we shall find a spot that is sheltered and snug enough, sir. There is a dry fir-wood just ahead, if I remember rightly."
- "I can almost smell the fir scent… resinous, pungent."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ-der. Proto-Germanic *furhō Proto-West Germanic *furhu Old English furh Middle English firre English fir 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: firre, fyrh, *furhu, *furhō, *pŕ̥kʷeh₂, fýri
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /fɜː/
- British English: /fɜː/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Algerian fir
alpine fir
amabilis fir
American silver fir
balsam fir
balsam of fir
Bhutan fir
big-cone Douglas fir)