firey

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥

Proto-Germanic *fōr

Proto-West Germanic *fuir

Old English fȳr

Middle English fyr

English fire

English -y

English firey

From fire + -y (“diminutive suffix”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪəɹi/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Homophone: fiery
• Rhymes: -aɪəɹi

Noun

firey (plural fireys)

1. (Australia, colloquial) A firefighter.
   • 2006, Don Woodland, Simon Bouda, Salvation Army, Picking Up the Pieces: A Life of Care and Compassion, page 135:

     So if a firey was having difficulties, I could go into bat for him if I felt it was necessary.

   • 2010, Helen Thomas, Life with Rosie: The Highs and Lows of Raising a Racehorse, unnumbered page:

     ‘Just one of those things that happens on a day like this,’ one of the fireys says, staring at what was the back door of the car.

   • 2010, Karen Kissane, Worst of Days: Inside the Black Saturday Firestorm, unnumbered page:

     Kinglake West firey Chris Lloyd says the camaraderie is a critical ingredient of CFA life.

Alternative forms

• firie

Adjective

firey

1. Misspelling of fiery.

Usage notes

The word fire and the fier- in the word fiery have counterintuitively different spellings. Furthermore, fire is traditionally one syllable (now usually two), while fiery is three. As such, it is easy to mistake fiery as a misspelling of fire + -y.

Anagrams

• fiery, reify