Etymology

ember

em·ber
E1M3B3E1R1

Today it means: A piece of coal or wood glowing by heat; a hot coal. Full definition →

Middle English embre ← Old English ǣmyrġe ← Proto-West Germanic *aimuʀjā
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ember · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₁ews-“to burn”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*aimuzjǭ
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*aimuʀjā
  4. Old English · inherited fromǣmyrġe
  5. Middle English · inherited fromembre
  6. English todayember

From Middle English embre, eymbre, aymer, eymere, emeri, from Old English ǣmyrġe, from Proto-West Germanic *aimuʀjā, from Proto-Germanic *aimuzjǭ, a compound of *aimaz + *uzjǭ. The latter is from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ews- (“to burn”). The b is intrusive and was added in English for ease of pronunciation when the vowel of the second syllable (y) disappeared. See also Old High German eimuria (“pyre”), Danish emmer, Swedish mörja (“embers”).

ember · adjective2

  1. Old English · inherited fromymbryne“course; circuit”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromembryne“running around, circuit”
  3. English todayember

From Middle English embryne (“running around, circuit”), from Old English ymbryne (“course; circuit”). Spelling changed through folk etymology. By surface analysis, umb- + run.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishymbryne all →

Ember day

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.