ash - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Abbreviation of English Abishira.

ash

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Abishira.

Volcanic ash dunes in Papua New Guinea

Proto-West Germanic *askā

English ash

From Middle English aisshe, asche, ash, asshe, axe, eshe, esk, from Old English acse, asċe, axe, axse, æsċe, from Proto-West Germanic *askā, from Proto-Germanic *askǭ (“ash”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs- (“to be dry; to burn; hearth; ashes”).

Cognates

Cognate with Yola ashen, oaskean (“ashes”), Saterland Frisian Ääske (“ash”), West Frisian jiske (“ash”), Alemannic German Äsche (“ash”), Cimbrian èssa (“ash”), Dutch as, asch (“ash”), German Asche (“ash”), Limburgish Aïsch, Aïsche, Äsch (“ash; grayling”), Luxembourgish Äsch (“ash”), Vilamovian oś, oš (“ash”), Yiddish אַש (ash, “ash”), Danish aske (“ash”), Faroese øska (“ash, ashes”), Icelandic and Swedish aska (“ash”), Norwegian Bokmål aske (“ash”), Norwegian Nynorsk oske (“ash”), Gothic 𐌰𐌶𐌲𐍉 (azgō, “ash; cinder”); Breton and Cornish ster (“stars”), Welsh sêr (“stars”), Latin āreō (“to be dry or parched; to be dried up or withered”), Greek αστέρας (astéras), αστέρι (astéri), άστρο (ástro, “star”), Armenian աստուճ (astuč), աշտուճ (aštuč, “dry (of bread)”), Avestan 𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬭 (star, “star”), Baluchi استار (astár / istár), استال (istál, “star”), Central Kurdish ئەستێرە (estêre, “star”), Northern Kurdish stêr (“star”), Ossetian стъалы (st’aly, “star”), Pashto ستوری (stóray, “star”), Persian سِتَارَه (setāra / sitâre, “star; destiny, fate; spark”), Hittite 𒄩𒀸𒊭𒀀𒀸 (ḫa-aš-ša-a-aš, “fireplace, hearth”), Ashkun istã́ (“star”), Tocharian A āştär (“pure”), Tocharian B astare (“pure”), Sanskrit आस (āsa, “ashes; dust”).

The rare plural axen is from Middle English axen, axnen, from Old English axan, asċan (“ashes”) (plural of Old English axe, æsċe (“ash”)).

ash (countable and uncountable, plural ashes)

  1. Solid remains of a fire.
    The audience was more captivated by the growing ash at the end of his cigarette than by his words.
    Ash from a fireplace can restore minerals to your garden's soil.
    Ashes from the fire floated over the street.
    Ash from the fire floated over the street.
    The family collected the ashes after burning the body.
  2. (chemistry) The nonaqueous remains of a material subjected to any complete oxidation process.
  3. Fine particles from a volcano, volcanic ash.
  4. (in the plural) Human (or animal) remains after cremation.
    The urn containing his ashes was eventually removed to a closet.
  5. (archaic, in the plural) Mortal remains in general.
    Napoleon’s ashes are not yet extinguished, and we’re breathing in their sparks.
  6. (figuratively) What remains after a catastrophe.
    • 2010 May 6, Jean-Claude Laguerre, “Haiti Will Rise From the Ashes”, in The Epoch Times:
      Now, it's Haiti that needs help to rebuild and rise from the ashes [of an earthquake].
  7. A gray color, similar to that of the remains of a fire.
    ash:
  8. (cellular automata) The resultant remaining more stable patterns that emerge from the evolution of a soup or a similarly random pattern.

solid remains of a fire

ash (third-person singular simple present ashes, present participle ashing, simple past and past participle ashed)

  1. (ambitransitive, chemistry) To reduce to a residue of ash. See ashing.
    • 1919, Harry Gordon, Total Soluble and Insoluble Ash in Leather, published in the Journal of the American Leather Chemists Association, W. K. Alsop and W. A. Fox, eds, volume XIV, number 1, on page 253
      I dried the extracted leather very slowly on the steam bath […] until the substance was dry enough to ash. […] I think that the discrepancy in the percentages of "total ash" by method No. 2 and No. 6 is due to this excessive heat required to ash the leather […]
    • 1981, Hans Weill, Margaret Turner-Warwick, and Claude Lenfant, eds, Occupational Lung Diseases: Research Approaches and Methods, Lung Biology in Health and disease, volume 18, page 203
      The inorganic material left after ashing lung tissue specimens not only contains inhaled particles but also very large quantities of inorganic residue derived from the tissue itself.
    • 1989?, Annals of Botany, volume 64, issues 4-6, page 397
      Ash and silica contents of the plant material were determined by classical gravimetric techniques. Tissue samples were ashed in platinum crucibles at about 500 °C, and the ash was treated repeatedly with 6 N hydrochloric acid to remove other mineral impurities.
    • 2010, S. Suzanne Nielsen, ed, Food Analysis, fourth edition, →ISBN, Chapter 12, "Traditional Methods for Mineral Analysis", page 213
      A 10-g food sample was dried, then ashed, and analyzed for salt (NaCl) content by the Mohr titration method (AgNO3 + Cl → AgCl). The weight of the dried sample was 2g, and the ashed sample weight was 0.5g.
  2. (Australia, ambitransitive) To hit the end off (a burning cigar or cigarette).
    • 1936, F.J. Thwaites, The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards Publishing, published 1940, page 62:
      "Nonsense," Mrs. Gardiner challenged, ashing her cigarette.
    • 1961, Kenneth Cook, Wake in Fright, published 1988, page ii. 52:
      He realized that he was standing staring at her and he sat down quickly, making a business of ashing his cigarette.
  3. (transitive, Christianity, chiefly passive voice) To mark (someone) with an ashen cross on the forehead to observe Ash Wednesday.
  4. (obsolete, chiefly passive voice) To cover newly-sown fields of crops with ashes.
    • 1847, H., Ashes on Corn.---An Experiment, published in the Genesee Farmer, volume 8, page 281
      Last spring, after I planted, I took what ashes I have saved during the last year, and put on my corn […] . On harvesting I cut up the two rows which were not ashed (or twenty rods of them,) and set them apart from the others in stouts; and then I cut up two rows of the same length, on each side, which had been ashed, […]
    • 1849, in a letter to James Higgins, published in 1850 in The American Farmer, volume V, number 7, pages 227-8
      After the corn was planted, upon acre A, I spread broadcast one hundred bushels of lime, (cost 3)andfiftybushelsofashes,(cost3) and fifty bushels of ashes, (cost 3)andfiftybushelsofashes,(cost6.) […] The extra crop of the combination over the limed acre or ashed, was paid by the increased crop, […]

to mark with an ashen cross to observe Ash Wednesday

to cover newly-sown fields of crops with ashes

An ash tree in Dorset, England

From Middle English aissh, asch, asche, ashe, assche, assh, asshe, esch, haish, from Old English æsċ, from Proto-West Germanic *ask, from Proto-Germanic *askaz (“ash”), from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃s- (“ash”).

Cognates

Cognate with Scots aish (“ash”), North Frisian eskebuum (“ash”), West Frisian esk (“ash”), Cimbrian ess (“ash”), Dutch es (“ash”), German Esche (“ash”), Limburgish èsj (“ash”), Luxembourgish Esch (“ash”), Yiddish אַשבוים (ashboym, “ash”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish ask (“ash”), Faroese ask, askur (“ash”), Icelandic askur (“ash”); also Welsh onn, ynn (“ash”), Latin ornus (“rowan”), Greek οξιά (oxiá, “beech; wood”), Albanian ah (“beech”), Latgalian ūss (“ash”), Latvian osis (“ash”), Lithuanian uosis (“ash”), Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian я́сень (jásenʹ, “ash”), Bulgarian я́сен (jásen, “ash”), Czech jasan (“ash”), Macedonian јасен (jasen, “ash”), Polish jasion, jesion (“ash”), Serbo-Croatian ја̏се̄н, jȁsēn (“ash”), Slovak jaseň (“ash”), Slovene jésen (“ash”), Armenian հացի (hacʻi, “ash”).

ash (countable and uncountable, plural ashes)

  1. (countable, uncountable) A shade tree of the genus Fraxinus.
    Synonym: ash tree
    The ash trees are dying off due to emerald ash borer.
    The woods planted in ash will see a different mix of species.
  2. (countable, uncountable) Any tree of certain species of other genera.
  3. (uncountable) The wood of this tree.
    • 1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 155:
      English soldiers handled sturdy bows of yew, ash, or elm, which could propel an iron-tipped arrow as far as a hundred yards.
  4. The traditional name for the ae ligature (æ), as used in Old English.
    Alternative forms: æsc, æsh

wood

ae ligature

Transliteration of Persian آش.

ash (uncountable)

  1. Alternative form of aush.

Abbreviation.

ash (not comparable)

  1. (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of as hell or as heck.
    Synonyms: asf (“as fuck”), asl (“as hell”)

ash

  1. alternative form of asshe (“burnt matter”)