Bonfire and Campfire

[Aamir Tariq]

What is the difference between bonfire and campfire?

Both are open-door fire for warmth, people sit around it. Are they the same? If not, what is the difference between them?

Regards,
Aamir the Global Citizen

 

[bhaisahab]

A bonfire is not a fire to sit around for warmth, it is a fire for burning rubbish.

 

[GoesStation]

I've always thought of bonfires as strictly celebratory. I didn't know the word was used for trash fires (as we call around here) in BrE.

 

[emsr2d2]

In the days when I lived in a house with a garden, we sometimes used to build a bonfire just for fun! We might bake potatoes in foil in it, toast marshmallows over it or just sit round it. It certainly wasn't a campfire because we weren't camping.

 

[GoesStation]

In American English, a bonfire is much bigger than a little fire for roasting marshmallows and the like.

 

[bhaisahab]

https://www.etymonline.com/word/bonfire

 

[jutfrank]

We would use the word campfire only if it was in a camp. You might sit around it for warmth or use it for cooking and/or various other purposes.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

So from the answers above I can come to a conclusion that campfire is strictly for celebratory purpose. It is usually smaller than bonfire. It is built during winters an people sit and stand around it for warmth. No trash is burnt in it.

Bonfire is much bigger than campfire, it isn't build for celebratory purpose. Since the main purpose of building bonfire is to burn the trash it can also be built during summer.

Both bonfire and campfire can be used for roasting and cooking food.

 

[jutfrank]

So from the answers above I can come to a conclusion that campfire is strictly for celebratory purpose. It is usually smaller than bonfire. It is built during winters an people sit and stand around it for warmth. No trash is burnt in it.

Bonfire is much bigger than campfire, it isn't build for celebratory purpose. Since the main purpose of building bonfire is to burn the trash it can also be built during summer.

Both bonfire and campfire can be used for roasting and cooking food.

No, I think that's all wrong.

A campfire is a fire for a camp. They are primarily for cooking, keeping warm and sitting around. Because of this, they tend to be small and manageable.

A bonfire is primarily for burning trash. Therefore, they are not usually for cooking or sitting around and are often too big to do so anyway. They are sometimes used symbolically, for celebrations, where people stand around them.

 

[GoesStation]

A bonfire is primarily for burning trash.

Or in American English, for celebrating something. We don't use the word for trash fires.

 

[Tdol]

For me, in BrE, a bonfire may have multiple purposes, but a campfire is not a way of clearing rubbish.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

In the days when I lived in a house with a garden, we sometimes used to build a bonfire just for fun! We might bake potatoes in foil in it, toast marshmallows over it or just sit round it. It certainly wasn't a campfire because we weren't camping.

In American English, a bonfire is much too big for toasting marshmallows. You couldn't get close enough. Here, that's the difference. A bonfire is big (whether for fun or for clearing brush) and a campfire is little.

A fire can be big or little, so your marshmallow toaster could just be called a fire if campfire isn't accurate: We built a fire and roasted weenies.

 

[GoesStation]

A bonfire is big (whether for fun or for clearing brush) and a campfire is little.

My wife agrees that a bonfire is a festive thing to her. Maybe up in New England (for learners: that means the states north and east of New York state, including Charlie's state of Maine) it can also be a trash fire. Have you really heard it used that way?

 

[Tdol]

In American English, a bonfire is much too big for toasting marshmallows. You couldn't get close enough. Here, that's the difference. A bonfire is big (whether for fun or for clearing brush) and a campfire is little.

I think that the difference in BrE is purpose, so we may have identified yet another tiny distinction.