clinker

clinker · noun, verb¹

1. Dutch · derived fromklinkaerd
2. English todayclinker

From Dutch klinkaerd, later klinker, from klinken (“to ring, resound”).

clinker · noun²

From clink + -er.

clinker · noun³

From clincher.

First known use, by meaning

• from 17th c. A very hard brick used for paving customarily made in the Netherlands.
• from 17th c. A mass of bricks fused together by intense heat.
• from 18th c. Slag or ash produced by intense heat in a furnace, kiln or boiler that forms a hard residue upon cooling.
• from 19th c. Hardened volcanic lava.
• from 19th c. A scum of oxide of iron formed in forging.