Word: ash Part of Speech: verb 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 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”)). Pronunciation: /ˈæʃ/, [ˈæʃ] 1. To reduce to a residue of ash. See ashing. Labels: ambitransitive Example: 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 […] Example: 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. 2. To hit the end off (a burning cigar or cigarette). Labels: Australia, ambitransitive Example: "Nonsense," Mrs. Gardiner challenged, ashing her cigarette. Example: He realized that he was standing staring at her and he sat down quickly, making a business of ashing his cigarette. 3. To mark (someone) with an ashen cross on the forehead to observe Ash Wednesday. Labels: transitive 4. To cover newly-sown fields of crops with ashes. Labels: obsolete Example: 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, […] Example: After the corn was planted, upon acre A, I spread broadcast one hundred bushels of lime, (cost $3) and fifty bushels of ashes, (cost $6.) […] The extra crop of the combination over the limed acre or ashed, was paid by the increased crop, […]