πυρφόρος πυρ-φόρος, ον, φέρω fire-bearing, Aesch.; of lightning, Pind., Aesch.:— πυρφόροι ὀϊστοί arrows with combustibles tied to them, Thuc. in special senses, epith. of Zeus in reference to his lightnings, Soph.; of Demeter, in reference to the torches used by her worshippers, Eur.; of Artemis, Soph.; —but θεὸς πυρφόρος the fire-bearing god, the god who produces plague or fever, Soph. ὁ πυρφόρος, in the Lacedaemonian army, was the priest who kept the sacrificial fire, which was never allowed to go out, Xen.; hence proverb. of a total defeat, ἔδεε δὲ μηδὲ πυρφόρον περιγενέσθαι Hdt.