The story
- Ancient Greek · derived fromπυροφόρος“fire-bearing”
- English todaypyrophoric
From Ancient Greek πυροφόρος (purophóros, “fire-bearing”) + -ic. Analyzable as pyro- + -phore + -ic.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Today it means: Spontaneously igniting in air, especially when in a finely divided state. Full definition →