Category:English words ending in "-yre"

The letter y was once common before a consonant in English, but has now mostly been replaced in this context by the letter i or removed altogether, as in:

• ayre (now air)
• empyre (empire)
• expyre (expire)
• fayre (fair)
• hyre (hire)
• inspyre (inspire)
• prepayre (prepare)
• respyre (respire)
• retyre (retire)
• syre (sire)
• transpyre (transpire)
• umpyre (umpire)
• wyre (wire)

A few remnants remain such as lyre and pyre. The most commonly used -yre word is tyre, used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand after being revived in the 19th century. Both tyre and tire were used in the 15th and 16th centuries, but tire became the settled term in the 17th century and tyre became obsolete. The United States did not adopt the revival of tyre, and tire is the only spelling currently used in the US and Canada.