ash

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The grey powder left after something has burned.

   He flicked the ash from his cigarette into the tray.

2. 2
   noun

   What remains of a dead body after it is cremated.

   The family scattered his ashes over the sea.

3. 3
   verb

   To tap the burned end off a cigarette or cigar.

   She ashed her cigarette into the ashtray.

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”)).

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