- sbirro (n.)
- Italian policeman, 1660s, from Italian, "police officer" (plural sbirri), from Late Latin birrus "red," from Greek pyrros "red," literally "fire-colored," from pyr "fire," from PIE root *paəwr- "fire" (see fire (n.)). With unoriginal prefix (compare Spanish esbirro). Probably so called from the original color of the uniform.
