What is "pyrogen"

Pyrogen \Pyr"o*gen\, n. [See Pyrogenous.]

1. Electricity. [R.]

2. (Physiol. Chem.) A poison separable from decomposed meat infusions, and supposed to be formed from albuminous matter through the agency of bacteria.

1858, as a proposed word for "electricity," from pyro- + -gen. Meaning "fever-producer" is from 1896. Related: Pyrogenic; pyrogenetic. Greek pyrogenes meant "born in fire, wrought by fire."

n. (context medicine English) Any substance that produces fever, or a rise in body temperature

n. any substance that can cause a rise in body temperature [syn: pyrectic]

Pyrogen may refer to:

• Pyrogen (fever) is a fever inducing substance
• Pyrogen (pyrotechnics) is a pyrotechnic composition producing flame when heated by e.g. a bridgewire