Ash is the soft gray or black powder left after something burns, like wood or paper. The word can also refer to certain types of trees called ash trees.
From Old English “æsc,” meaning both “ash tree” and “spear,” because spears were made from its wood. The sense of burned remains comes from a different Old English form related to fire.
Ash is what happens when fire has taken almost everything it can and leaves only a ghost of what was there. From volcanoes to campfires, ash is like the shadow a flame leaves behind.
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