Editing Bonfire (section)

== Etymology ==
The earliest attestations date to the late 15th century, with the [[Catholicon Anglicum]] spelling it as ''banefyre'' and [[John Mirk]]'s ''Book of Festivals''<ref name=mirk /> speaking of a communal fire in celebrations of [[Saint John's Eve]] that "was clene bones & no wode & that is callid a bone fyre".<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer; no byline--> |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-secret-history-of-bonfire |title=The Secret History of 'Bonfire' |website=Words at Play |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref> The word is thus a compound of "bone" and "fire."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Liberman|first=Anatoly|date=25 March 2015|title=While dancing around a bonfire, beware of analogy|url=https://blog.oup.com/2015/03/bonfire-etymology-word-origin/|website=The Oxford Etymologist|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

[[Samuel Johnson]]'s 1755 ''[[Dictionary of the English Language|Dictionary]]'' incorrectly analyzed "bon" as the French ''bon'' 'good'.<ref>{{Cite web |author=<!--Staff writer; no byline--> |url=https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/language-lovers/etymology-corner-bonfire/ |title=Etymology Corner – 'bonfire' |date=28 October 2016 |website=Language Lovers |publisher=Collins Dictionary}}</ref>