ember
A piece of coal or wood glowing by heat; a hot coal.
Adjective
- Making a circuit of the year or the seasons; recurring in each quarter of the year, as certain religious days set apart for fasting and prayer.
- ember fasts
- ember days
- ember weeks
Origin
From Middle English embryne (“running around, circuit”), from Old English ymbryne (“course; circuit”). Spelling changed through folk etymology. By surface analysis, umb- + run.
Derived
Noun
- A piece of coal or wood glowing by heat; a hot coal.
- Smoldering ash.
Origin
From Middle English embre, eymbre, aymer, eymere, emeri, from Old English ǣmyrġe, from Proto-West Germanic *aimuʀjā, from Proto-Germanic *aimuzjǭ, a compound of *aimaz + *uzjǭ. The latter is from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ews- (“to burn”). The b is intrusive and was added in English for ease of pronunciation when the vowel of the second syllable (y) disappeared. See also Old High German eimuria (“pyre”), Danish emmer, Swedish mörja (“embers”).