Category:English words ending in "-yre"

The letter y was once common before a consonant in English, but has now mostly been replaced in this context by the letter i or removed altogether. Many of these words end with "yre"; such as:

• ayre (now air)
• empyre (empire)
• expyre (expire)
• fayre (fair)
• hyre (hire)
• inspyre (inspire)
• prepayre (prepare)
• respyre (respire)
• retyre (retire)
• syre (sire)
• transpyre (transpire)
• umpyre (umpire)
• wyre (wire)

A few remnants remain such as in now uncommon words ending in yre, like lyre and pyre. The one still commonly used word is tyre, used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand after being revived in the 19th century. Both tyre and tire were used in the 15th and 16th centuries, but tire became the settled term in the 17th century and tyre became obsolete. The United States did not adopt the revival of tyre, and tire is the only spelling currently used there and in Canada.