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ash²

(ăsh)

1. Any of various chiefly deciduous trees of the genus Fraxinus, having opposite, pinnately compound leaves, clusters of small flowers, and one-seeded winged fruits.

2. The strong, elastic wood of any of these trees, used for furniture, tool handles, and sporting goods such as baseball bats.

3. Linguistics The letter æ in Old English and some modern phonetic alphabets, representing the vowel sound of Modern English ash.

[Middle English asshe, from Old English æsc.]

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ash²

white ash

Fraxinus americana

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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