ash

B2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈæʃ/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like ass /s/ vs /ʃ/

Freq #4364

Meanings

1

noun
The grey powder left after something has burned.

He flicked the ash from his cigarette into the tray.
2

noun
What remains of a dead body after it is cremated.

The family scattered his ashes over the sea.
3

verb
To tap the burned end off a cigarette or cigar.

She ashed her cigarette into the ashtray.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · what remains of a dead body... cremains

Word family

Forms ashes

Derived forms acid-ashash-blondash-blondeash-coloredash-colouredash-heapash-heap-cakeash-holeash-hopperash-redashbinashcake

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

fly ash
fine particles of burned fuel carried away in the gases from combustion

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Ash represents two originally unrelated Old English words: æsce or æxe for the powder left after burning, and æsc for the tree. Their identical modern spelling therefore conceals separate origins.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-der.? Proto-Germanic *askǭ Proto-West Germanic *askā Old English æsce Middle English asshe English ash From Middle English asshe, from Old English æsċe, from Proto-West Germanic *askā, from Proto-Germanic *askǭ (compare West Frisian jiske, Dutch as, Low German Asch, German Asche, Danish aske, Swedish aska, Norwegian aske), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-; see it for cognates. The rare plural axen is from Middle English axen, axnen, from Old English axan, asċan (“ashes”) (plural of Old English axe, æsċe (“ash”)).

asshe Middle English æsċe Old English *askā Proto-West Germanic *askǭ Proto-Germanic *h₂eHs- Proto-Indo-European axen Middle English axan Old English axe Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# ash

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈæʃ/
**Frequency rank:** 4364

## Meanings
1. The grey powder left after something has burned.
2. What remains of a dead body after it is cremated.
3. To tap the burned end off a cigarette or cigar.

## Examples
- He flicked the ash from his cigarette into the tray.
- The family scattered his ashes over the sea.
- She ashed her cigarette into the ashtray.

## Derived Forms
- acid-ash
- ash-blond
- ash-blonde
- ash-colored
- ash-coloured
- ash-heap
- ash-heap-cake
- ash-hole
- ash-hopper
- ash-red
- ashbin
- ashcake

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: asshe
- Root: æsċe
- Root: *askā
- Root: *askǭ
- Root: *h₂eHs-
- Root: axen
- Root: axan
- Root: axe

## Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-der.? Proto-Germanic *askǭ Proto-West Germanic *askā Old English æsce Middle English asshe English ash From Middle English asshe, from Old English æsċe, from Proto-West Germanic *askā, from Proto-Germanic *askǭ (compare West Frisian jiske, Dutch as, Low German Asch, German Asche, Danish aske, Swedish aska, Norwegian aske), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-; see it for cognates. The rare plural axen is from Middle English axen, axnen, from Old English axan, asċan (“ashes”) (plural of Old English axe, æsċe (“ash”)).

## AI Etymology
Ash comes from Middle English asshe, from Old English æsċe, from Proto-West Germanic *askā, from Proto-Germanic *askǭ, with cognates including West Frisian jiske, Dutch as, Low German Asch, German Asche, Danish aske, Swedish aska, and Norwegian aske. The line is traced to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-. The rare plural axen is from Middle English axen, axnen, from Old English axan, asċan (“ashes”), plural of Old English axe, æsċe (“ash”). The historical chain runs from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-der.? through Proto-Germanic *askǭ, Proto-West Germanic *askā, Old English æsce, and Middle English asshe to English ash.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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