Etymology

cinder

cin·der
C3I1N1D2E1R1

Today it means: Partially or mostly burnt material that results from incomplete combustion of coal or wood etc.; it often rides the rising smoke column into the air, and it can pose a fire hazard when it lands, in dry conditions. Full definition →

Middle English cyndyr ← Old English sinder ← Proto-West Germanic *sindr
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sendʰro-“coagulating fluid, liquid slag, scale, cinder”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*sindrą
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*sindr
  4. Old English · inherited fromsinder“cinder, dross, slag, scoria, dross of iron, impurity of metal”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromcyndyr
  6. English todaycinder

From Middle English cyndyr, syndir, synder, sinder, from Old English sinder (“cinder, dross, slag, scoria, dross of iron, impurity of metal”), from Proto-West Germanic *sindr, from Proto-Germanic *sindrą, *sindraz (“dross, cinder, slag”), from Proto-Indo-European *sendʰro- (“coagulating fluid, liquid slag, scale, cinder”). Cognate with Scots sinder (“ember, cinder”), West Frisian sindel, sintel (“cinder, slag”), Dutch sintel (“cinder, ember, slag”), Middle Low German sinder, sinter (“cinder, slag”), German Sinter (“dross of iron, scale”), Danish sinder (“spark of ignited iron, cinder”), Swedish sinder (“slag or dross from a forge”), Icelandic sindur (“scoring”), Old Church Slavonic сѧдра (sędra, “lime cinder, gypsum”). Spelling (c- for s-) influenced by unrelated French cendre (“ashes”). Doublet of sinter.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishsinder all →

Syndercombe

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.