Pyromanias

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals affected by an intense, uncontrollable urge to start fires; persons suffering from a psychological disorder marked by repeated deliberate fire-setting and fascination with flames; people exhibiting a compulsive behavior involving the persistent desire to ignite fires despite harmful consequences
2. Those who experience an obsessive craving to ignite fires deliberately; individuals diagnosed with a mental condition characterized by compulsive fire-starting and attraction to fire; persons compelled by a repeated pattern of dangerous fire-setting activities driven by psychological factors
3. Persons displaying a pathological impulse to set things on fire intentionally; sufferers of a psychiatric ailment involving recurrent deliberate ignition acts and deep fascination with fire; humans driven by an irresistible need to initiate fires repeatedly for psychological relief or excitement

Etymology: "Pyromanias" is simply the plural of "pyromania", so the word's history is that of its parts. The first part, "pyro-", comes from the Greek "pyr", meaning fire, and appears in many scientific and technical coinages. The second part, "-mania", comes from the Greek "mania", meaning madness or frenzy, a root that English has long used to name compulsions and obsessions. Combined, the two elements describe a compulsion to set fires. The plural form refers to more than one person or case of this condition, the same way any countable noun is pluralised in English.

Synonyms: fire obsession, fire fascination, arsonist tendencies, fire compulsion, fire addiction

Antonyms: fire aversion, fire fear, fire phobia, fire avoidance