Etymology

ashtray

A1S1H4T1R1A1Y4

Today it means: A receptacle for ash and butts from cigarettes and cigars. Full definition →

English tray ← Middle English trey ← Old English trēġ
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eHs-der.?
  2. Proto-Germanic*askǭ
  3. Proto-West Germanic*askā
  4. Old Englishæsce
  5. Middle Englishasche
  6. Englishash
  7. Proto-Germanic*trawją
  8. Proto-West Germanic*trawi
  9. Old Englishtrēġ
  10. Middle Englishtrey
  11. Englishtray
  12. English todayashtray

From ash + tray. Compare German Aschenbecher.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.