Etymology

retrofire

R1E1T1R1O1F4I1R1E1

Today it means: The firing of rockets directed opposite to a craft's direction of motion in order to slow down. Full definition →

English fire ← Middle English fyr ← Old English fȳr
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The story

  1. Proto-Italic*wre-
  2. Latinre-
  3. Latinretrō
  4. Englishretro-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*péh₂wr̥
  6. Proto-Germanic*fōr
  7. Proto-West Germanic*fuir
  8. Old Englishfȳr
  9. Middle Englishfyr
  10. Englishfire
  11. English todayretrofire

From retro- + fire.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.