ire: n,v,a,adv,?

[Michael H Covarrubias]

Forgive the possible repetition.

I remember some discussion of "ire" as a transitive verb.  The use is supported
by the OED though it's called obsolete and rare.  And one quotation is all it earns.

c1420 Pallad. on Husb. II. 361 Her brethron & her owne kynde hit ireth [L. irritat].

A recent AP headline reads

"Italy ire over kids seeing 'Apocalypto'"

What use of 'ire' is this?  If it is a noun (as in "there is ire in Italy") I
would expect the modifyer to be "Italian".  I would expect a coined participle
to be "ired". I can't (in good conscience) parse any non-transitive verb sense.

I raise my hand feebly to vote for the noun-sense (nonsense?).

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   English Language & Linguistics
   Purdue University
   mcovarru at purdue.edu

   web.ics.purdue.edu/~mcovarru
  <http://wishydig.blogspot.com>

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