Pyrophobia

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An intense and irrational fear of fire or anything associated with it is commonly referred to as a specific anxiety disorder
2. This condition manifests as an overwhelming dread towards flames or scenarios involving heat sources
3. Individuals suffering from this fear often experience anxiety in the presence of fire or situations that might lead to burning

Etymology: Pyrophobia is a modern coinage built from two Greek elements: "pyr", meaning fire, and "phobia", meaning fear or dread. The second element has its own long life in English, since "phobia" comes from the Greek "phobos" and entered the language as a scientific suffix, which made it easy for later writers to attach to almost any object of dread. The first element is what lets the word describe fire specifically. The more surprising fact is that English had a native word for this fear before Greek was pressed into service. Old English speakers used "līeġeġesa", a compound of "līeġ" (flame, blaze) and "ege" (fear), which survives only in the historical record. The Greek-based term took its place, so the fear of fire now carries a classical label rather than the Anglo-Saxon one.