bonfire

Meanings

Noun

• A large, controlled outdoor fire, as a signal or to celebrate something.
• A fire to burn unwanted items, such as agricultural waste or proscribed books, or heretics or other offenders.
• A fire in which bones are burned.

Verb

• To fire (pottery) using a bonfire.
• To make, or celebrate around, a bonfire.

Origin

• From Middle English bonnefyre, banefyre; equivalent to , with the first element perhaps later assimilating to French bon. Cognate with Scots banefire.