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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

balefire en · NOUN

Etymology

From Middle English bale-fyre, from Old English bǣlfȳr (“balefire, funeral or sacrificial fire”); equivalent to bale (“funeral pyre”) + fire.

Meanings

  1. A bonfire, any large outdoor fire (for example those used in a funeral pyre, or in witches' rituals).
    • Rites done on a lakeshore or seashore can be illuminated with balefires of dried driftwood collected prior to the rite. 2002, Marilyn F. Daniel, Kitchen Witchery, Weiser, →ISBN, page 236:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
balefires Number=Plur lexicographic

Relateds

pyre · bale · fire · bonfire

Translations (2)

es fogata de brujos (ritual bonfire) · pl rytualne ognisko (ritual bonfire)