pyro-

(word root) fire

Examples of words with the root pyro-: pyromaniac

pyro-

or pyr-

pref.

1. Fire; heat: pyrotechnic.

2. Relating to the action of fire or heat: pyrography.

3. Fever: pyrogen.

4. Formed upon heating, by loss of water or another small molecule: pyrosulfuric acid.

[New Latin, from Greek puro-, from pūr, fire; see paəwr̥ in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pyro-

or before a vowel

pyr-

combining form

1. denoting fire, heat, or high temperature: pyromania; pyrometer.

2. (General Physics) caused or obtained by fire or heat: pyroelectricity.

3. (Chemistry) chem

a. denoting a new substance obtained by heating another: pyroboric acid is obtained by heating boric acid.

b. denoting an acid or salt with a water content intermediate between that of the ortho- and meta- compounds: pyro-phosphoric acid.

4. (Minerals) mineralogy

a. having a property that changes upon the application of heat: pyromorphite.

b. having a flame-coloured appearance: pyroxylin.

[from Gk pur fire]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pyro-

1. a combining form meaning “fire,” “heat,” “high temperature,” used in the formation of compound words: pyrogen; pyromancy.

a. a combining form used in the names of inorganic acids, the water content of which is intermediate between the ortho and meta forms of an acid: pyrophosphoric acid.

b. a combining form used in the names of the salts of these acids.

Also, esp. before h or a vowel, pyr-.

[< Greek pyro-, comb. form of pŷr fire]