Ire

Pronunciation

• US IPA: /aɪɹ/
• UK IPA: /aɪ.É™(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -aɪə(r)

From Middle English ire, yre, shortened form of iren ("iron"). More at iron.

Full definition of ire

Noun

1. (Now chiefly dialectal) Iron.The cruel ire, red as any gleed. — Chaucer.

From Middle English ire, from Old French ire ("ire"), from Latin ira ("wrath, rage"), from Proto-Indo-European *eis- ("to fall upon, act sharply") (compare Old English ofost ("haste, zeal"), Old Norse eisa ("to race forward"), Ancient Greek ἱερός (hierós, "supernatural, holy"), οἶστρος (oĩstros, "frenzy; gadfly"), Avestan aesma 'anger', Sanskrit eṣati 'it drives on').

Noun

1. (literary, poetic) Great anger; wrath; keen resentment.

Synonyms

• fury
• rage
• wrath

Related terms

• irascibility
• irascible
• irate
• ireful

Verb

1. (transitive) To anger; to fret; to irritate.

Anagrams

• EIR