Category:Ashes

Ash, n. Etym: [OE. asch, esh, AS. æsc; akin to OHG. asc, Sw. & Dan. ask, Icel. askr, D. esch, G. esche.]

1. (Bot.)

Defn: A genus of trees of the Olive family, having opposite pinnate leaves, many of the species furnishing valuable timber, as the European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and the white ash (F. Americana). Prickly ash (Zanthoxylum Americanum) and Poison ash (Rhus venenata) are shrubs of different families, somewhat resembling the true ashes in their foliage.

-- Mountain ash. See Roman tree, and under Mountain.

2. The tough, elastic wood of the ash tree.

Note: Ash is used adjectively, or as the first part of a compound term; as, ash bud, ash wood, ash tree, etc.

Ash, n.,

Defn: sing. of Ashes.

Note: Ash is rarely used in the singular except in connection with chemical or geological products; as, soda ash, coal which yields a red ash, etc., or as a qualifying or combining word; as, ash bin, ash heap, ash hole, ash pan, ash pit, ash-grey, ash-colored, pearlash, potash. Bone ash, burnt powered; bone earth.

-- Volcanic ash. See under Ashes.

Ash, v. t.

Defn: To strew or sprinkle with ashes. Howell.

Ash"es, n. pl. Etym: [OE. asche, aske, AS. asce, æsce, axe; akin to OHG. asca, G. asche, D. asch, Icel. & Sw. aska, Dan. aske, Goth. azgo.]

1. The earthy or mineral particles of combustible substances remaining after combustion, as of wood or coal.

2. Specifically: The remains of the human body when burnt, or when "returned to dust" by natural decay. Their martyred blood and ashes sow. Milton. The coffins were broken open. The ashes were scattered to the winds. Macaulay.

3. The color of ashes; deathlike paleness. The lip of ashes, and the cheek of flame. Byron. In dust and ashes, In sackcloth and ashes, with humble expression of grief or repentance; -- from the method of mourning in Eastern lands.

-- Volcanic ashes, or Volcanic ash, the loose, earthy matter, or small fragments of stone or lava, ejected by volcanoes.

4. Specifically: The remains of the burnt palm leaves (distributed in the shape of a cross on the forehead on Ash Wednesday in the Catholic Church), to remind people they will "return to dust".

-- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

Ashes - The ashes of a red heifer burned entire (Numbers 19:5) when sprinkled on the unclean made them ceremonially clean (Hebrews 9:13). To cover the head with ashes was a token of self-abhorrence and humiliation (2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:3; Jeremiah 6:26, etc.). To feed on ashes (Isaiah 44:20), means to seek that which will prove to be vain and unsatisfactory, and hence it denotes the unsatisfactory nature of idol-worship. (Compare Hosea 12:1).