noun
pyre
PIE-er/ˈpaɪər/
A pile of wood or other material used to burn a dead body.
A shrouded body rests on a carefully stacked, unlit funeral pyre.
Etymology
Greek pyra could name a hearth, sacrificial altar, or funeral pyre. English preserves the funerary use: a combustible pile on which a body is burned.
In context
Even as the body of Maegor Targaryen were consigned to a funeral pyre as was tradition
More examples
- The family gathers around the pyre before the ceremony.
- Workers build the pyre with dry logs.
- Smoke rises from the funeral pyres along the river.
Forms
pyre · pyres
cremation noun — The burning of a dead body.
Similar words
- funeral pile
- Names the same structure in a more descriptive phrase.