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cin·der

(sĭndər)

a. A small piece of burned or partly burned substance, such as coal, that is not reduced to ashes but is incapable of further combustion.

b. A piece of charred substance that can burn further but without flame.

2. cinders Ashes.

3. cinders Geology See scoria.

4. Metallurgy See scoria.

5. Slag from a metal furnace.

tr.v. cin·dered, cin·der·ing, cin·ders

To burn or reduce to cinders.

[Alteration (influenced by Old French cendre, ashes) of Middle English sinder, from Old English, slag, dross.]

cinder·y adj.

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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