Join free

ash

English · Français · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

ash¹

  • /ˈæʃ/
  • [ˈæʃ]

Sounds like Ash · Rhymes with -æʃ

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English asche, asshe, aske, 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 dialectal plural axen is from Middle English axen, axnen, from Old English axan, asċan (“ashes”) (plural of Old English axe, æsċe (“ash”)).

noun ashes

  1. countable, uncountable The solid remains of a fire. The audience was more captivated by the growing ash at the end of his cigarette than by his words.
  2. countable, uncountable The nonaqueous remains of a material subjected to any complete oxidation process.
  3. countable, uncountable Fine particles from a volcano, volcanic ash.
  4. countable, in plural, uncountable Human (or animal) remains after cremation. The urn containing his ashes was eventually removed to a closet.
  5. archaic, countable, in plural, uncountable Mortal remains in general. Napoleon’s ashes are not yet extinguished, and we’re breathing in their sparks.

    Similar: cremains

  6. countable, figuratively, uncountable The aftermath or remains of a catastrophe. Now, it's Haiti that needs help to rebuild and rise from the ashes [of an earthquake].
  7. countable, uncountable A gray color, similar to that of the remains of a fire.
  8. countable, uncountable The resultant remaining more stable patterns that emerge from the evolution of a soup or a similarly random pattern.

verb ashes · ashing · ashed

  1. ambitransitive To reduce to a residue of ash. See ashing. 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 […]
  2. Australia, ambitransitive To hit the end off (a burning cigar or cigarette). "Nonsense," Mrs. Gardiner challenged, ashing her cigarette.
  3. transitive To mark (someone) with an ashen cross on the forehead to observe Ash Wednesday.
  4. obsolete To cover newly-sown fields of crops with ashes. 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, wh

ash²

  • /ˈæʃ/
  • [ˈæʃ]

Sounds like Ash · Rhymes with -æʃ

Where it comes from

From Middle English asch, asche, assh, from Old English æsċ, from Proto-West Germanic *ask, from Proto-Germanic *askaz (“ash”), from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃s- (“ash”). The "ligature" sense is a semantic loan from Old English æsċ, whence also the synonymous doublet æsc.

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”).

noun ashes

  1. countable, uncountable A shade tree of the genus Fraxinus. The ash trees are dying off due to emerald ash borer.

    Similar: ash tree

  2. countable, uncountable Any tree of certain species of other genera.
  3. uncountable The wood of this tree. English soldiers handled sturdy bows of yew, ash, or elm, which could propel an iron-tipped arrow as far as a hundred yards.
  4. countable, uncountable A name for the ae ligature (æ), as used in Old English.

ash³

  • /ˈæʃ/
  • [ˈæʃ]

Sounds like Ash · Rhymes with -æʃ

Where it comes from

Transliteration of Persian آش.

noun

  1. alternative, uncountable Alternative form of aush

ash⁴

  • /ˈæʃ/
  • [ˈæʃ]

Sounds like Ash · Rhymes with -æʃ

Where it comes from

Abbreviation.

adverb

  1. Internet, abbreviation, not comparable Abbreviation of as hell or as heck

    Similar: asf, asl

  2. abbreviation, initialism, not comparable Initialism of alt.suicide.holiday It is advisable that you use the same nick as on ash (or your first name).

Ash⁵

  • /ˈæʃ/
  • [ˈæʃ]

Sounds like ash · Rhymes with -æʃ

proper noun Ashes

  1. Egyptian, countable, uncountable The Egyptian god of oases.
  2. countable, uncountable Oisc, also spelled Æsc or Ash, an Anglo-Saxon king of Kent
  3. countable, uncountable A topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived near ash trees.
  4. countable, uncountable A unisex given name transferred from the surname. Aberdeen have confirmed, external Ash Taylor and Lawrence Shankland will follow Ryan Jack, Niall McGinn and Peter Pawlett in leaving the club this summer.
  5. countable, uncountable A diminutive of the unisex given names Ashley and Ashleigh.
  6. countable, uncountable A diminutive of the female given names Ashlie, Ashlee, Ashly, and Ashanti.
  7. countable, uncountable A civil parish in South Derbyshire district, Derbyshire.
  8. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Stoke Fleming parish, South Hams district, Devon (OS grid ref SX8349).
  9. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Stourpaine parish, Dorset (OS grid ref ST8610).
  10. countable, uncountable A village and civil parish in Dover district, Kent (OS grid ref TR2858).
  11. countable, uncountable A small village in Ash-cum-Ridley parish, Sevenoaks district, Kent (OS grid ref TQ6064).
  12. countable, uncountable A village and civil parish in Somerset, previously in South Somerset district (OS grid ref ST4720).
  13. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Thornfalcon parish, Somerset, previously in Somerset West and Taunton district (OS grid ref ST2822).
  14. countable, uncountable A town and civil parish in Guildford borough, Surrey, near Aldershot (OS grid ref SU8950).
  15. countable, uncountable A township in Monroe County, Michigan.
  16. countable, uncountable A township in Barry County, Missouri.
  17. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Monroe County, Missouri.
  18. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Brunswick County, North Carolina.
  19. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Douglas County, Oregon.
  20. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Houston County, Texas.
  21. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Mason County, West Virginia.

ASH⁶

proper noun ash

  1. abbreviation, initialism Initialism of alt.suicide.holiday Who are "they"?? I will tell you. The FAQ you speak of (in fact any post you speak of on any newsgroup you speak of), is the product of whomever^([sic]) wrote and posted it. Nothing more, nothing less. You post on ASH too. That means to me, YOU are "they".

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: ash tree, powder, burn, smoke, ashes, cremains, cinder, urn, dust, caustic, gray, soot, cloud, grey, particulate, ground

Translations

Every language

noun solid remains of a fire

Españolceniza, favila
한국어재 jae
日本語灰 hai
中文灰 huī
हिन्दीराख rākh
Kiswahilimajivu, jivu
Portuguêscinzas
Françaiscendre
DeutschAsche
Italianocenere
Ελληνικάστάχτη stáchti, τέφρα téfra
Românăcenușă, scrum
Русскийпе́пел pépel, зола́ zolá
Tiếng Việttro
العربيةرَمَاد ramād, سَكَن sakan
עבריתאֵפֶר éfer

verb to reduce to a residue of ash

Deutschveraschen

verb to hit the end off of a burning cigar or cigarette

Deutschabaschen, aschen

noun wood

Españolfresno
日本語トネリコ材 toneriko-zai
中文桉樹材 /桉树材, 桉树材 ānshùcái
Portuguêsfreixo
Françaisfrêne
DeutschEschenholz
Italianofrassino
Ελληνικάφλαμούρι flamoúri, μελιά meliá
Русскийя́сень jásenʹ
العربيةدَرْدَار dardār

noun ae ligature

Française dans l'a

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"ash." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ash. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ash. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ash

Chicago

"ash." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ash.

BibTeX
@misc{ash_2026,
  title = {ash},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ash},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}