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FIR

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fir¹

  • /fɜː/ Australia, UK
  • /fəː/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /fɝ/ US
  • /fɪɾ/ Scotland
  • /føː/ New Zealand, Wales
  • /feː/
  • /fɛː/

Sounds like fur (fern–fir–fur merger), fair, fare (both fair–fur merger) · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)

Where it comes from

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.

noun firs

  1. countable A conifer of the genus Abies. 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.
  2. countable Any pinaceous conifer of related genera, especially a Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga) or a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). we shall find a spot that is sheltered and snug enough, sir. There is a dry fir-wood just ahead, if I remember rightly.
  3. uncountable Wood of such trees.

Similar: fir-tree

FIR²

adjective

  1. abbreviation, initialism, not comparable Initialism of finite impulse response; that has impulse response (or response to any finite length input) of finite duration.finite impulse response

noun FIRs

  1. abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of flight information region; a specified region of airspace in which a flight information service (FIS) and an alerting service (ALRS) are provided.flight information region
  2. Singapore, South Asia, abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of first information report.first information report
  3. abbreviation, uncountable Abbreviation of far infrared or far infrared radiation.far infrared or far infrared radiation

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