Ire

How to spell ire

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce ire

What does ire mean?

1. nounStrong anger or wrath, especially when provoked.

Ire in a sentence

• The surprise tax bill drew the ire of every small business owner.

• His careless remark about the budget provoked the ire of the whole committee.

Where does ire come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This short word comes from the Latin ira, which simply meant 'anger' or 'wrath'. English took it in during the 1200s through Old French, where it kept both the spelling and the meaning almost unchanged. The same Latin root survives in several relatives an adult will recognise: 'irate', meaning intensely angry, 'irascible', meaning quick to lose one's temper, and the medical-sounding 'ire' that still feels slightly formal or literary today. The trap in spelling is that the whole word rhymes with 'fire' and 'hire' yet drops the leading consonant and the 'h', so it can look oddly bare on the page. Remembering the chain ira to irate keeps the single 'i' and the silent-feeling 'e' in place.

How the word is built

• ire (from Latin ira: anger, wrath)