Meaning: ash

Illustrative Context

There was nothing left but ash.

Disambiguation

Beware the ambiguity of English ash. The meaning here is ash as the remains of burnt materials, not the tree species ash.

Target Sense

• Ash as the generic word for the powdery remains from burning many materials, such as wood, grass or dry dung.
• The lexeme must be applicable to cold ash. Avoid words that refer specifically to still hot embers.
• The lexeme must be applicable to ash as reduced to powder. Avoid words that can refer to material not fully burnt and still solid, objects that are merely charred or blackened.
• The lexeme must be applicable to ash that is white/grey in colour, and not just charred black soot.
• The generic term for the substance. In many languages this will be a mass/non-count noun, as in English ‘singular’ ash or French (la) cendre. In such cases, provide this mass or ‘singular’ form, especially if plural forms have more specific senses, such as ashes or (les) cendres — see the next bullet point.
• Avoid words with the specific sense of the burnt remains of a particular thing, or indeed a body, and/or the results of a deliberate act of cremation, e.g. Russian прах or the usage of the plural ashes in English.
• Distinguish from, and see also the definitions for the distinct IE-CoR meanings dust and sand.