фир

Bulgarian

Житен фир

Etymology

Unclear. Compare Proto-Slavic *pyrь (“cinder, incense; lye”), reflected in dialectal пирива́ (pirivá, “poor-quality soil”), or loanword фира́ (firá, “lees, sludge, residue”) (borrowed from Greek φύρα (fýra, “waste”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fir]

Noun

фир • (fir) m

1. (dialectal, dated) soak, ooze, pickle (acrid, bitter substance used in the past to distill grain or other raw food)

   Synonyms: (partially) квас (kvas), (dialectal) цад (cad)

   → (by extension) container, bag, vessel for implementing zymurgy

2. (figurative, colloquial) home-made spirit, alcohol, booze

   Synonyms: (standard terms) спирт (spirt), алкохо́л (alkohól)

Declension

Declension of фир

	singular	plural
indefinite	фир fir	фи́рове fírove
definite (subject form)	фи́рът fírǎt	фи́ровете fírovete
definite (object form)	фи́ра fíra
count form	—	фи́ра fíra

Alternative forms

• фур (fur)

Derived terms

• фи́рувам (fíruvam, “to ferment, to soak in фир”)
• фи́ркам (fírkam, “to drink alcohol, to booze”) (slang)
  • фиркаджи́я (firkadžíja, “drunkard”)

See also

• оло́вина (olóvina, “ale”) (product made via фируване)

References

• Nayden Gerov, Тодор Панчев (1904) “фуръ”, in Рѣчникъ на Блъгарскꙑй язꙑкъ. Съ тлъкувание рѣчи-тꙑ на Блъгарскꙑ и на Русскꙑ. [Dictionary of the Bulgarian language]‎^[1] (in Bulgarian), volume 5, Plovdiv: Дружествена печꙗтница "Съгласие.", page 477