greek fire

Greek fire

G g

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [greek fahyuh r]
- /grik faɪər/
- /ɡriːk ˈfaɪə(r)/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [greek fahyuh r]
- /grik faɪər/

Definitions of greek fire words

noun greek fire an incendiary mixture of unknown composition, used in warfare in medieval times by Byzantine Greeks. 1
noun greek fire any of a group of inflammable mixtures; wildfire. 1
noun greek fire a Byzantine weapon employed in naval warfare from 670 ad. It consisted of an unknown mixture that, when wetted, exploded and was projected, burning, from tubes 0
noun greek fire any of several other inflammable mixtures used in warfare up to the 19th century 0
noun greek fire an incendiary material used in medieval warfare, described as able to burn in water 0
noun greek fire (historical) A highly flammable substance of unknown composition first used by the Greeks of Constantinople in the 7th century C.E. to set fire to enemy ships, buildings etc. 0

See all 6 definitions of greek fire

Information block about the term

Origin of greek fire

First appearance:

before 1820

One of the 38% newest English words

First recorded in 1820-30

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Greek fire

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Greek fire

greek fire popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 39% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 66% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

greek fire usage trend in Literature

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