"ash, ashes" in seven languages
Meaningash, ashes
Spanish
ceniza
/θeˈniθa/
fem.inherited
From *CINĪSIA, a spoken-Latin derivative of CINIS.
French
cendre
/sɑ̃dʁ/
fem.inherited
The d grew between n and r once the vowel dropped: CIN(E)REM → cendre.
Italian
cenere
/ˈtʃenere/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
cinza
/ˈsĩzɐ/
fem.inherited
From *CINĪSIA, like Spanish ceniza.
Romanian
cenușă
/tʃeˈnuʃə/
fem.inherited
From *CINŪSIA: S before a yod became ș.
Catalan
cendra
/ˈsendɾə/
fem.inherited
English
ash
/æʃ/
native English · Old English æsce
English → Italianash, ashescenereNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: incinerate, incinerator.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
CINEREM‘ash (nom. CINIS)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The fairy-tale girl of the ashes is Cenicienta, Cendrillon, Cenerentola and Cinderella — but English cinder is Germanic, not Latin. Romanian cenușă turned the S before a yod into ș.
English relatives: incinerate, incinerator
Sound laws at work
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEn la chimenea solo quedaba ceniza.
- frIl ne restait que de la cendre dans la cheminée.
- itNel camino era rimasta solo cenere.
- ptSó restava cinza na lareira.
- roÎn șemineu rămăsese doar cenușă.
- caA la xemeneia només hi quedava cendra.
- enThere was only ash left in the fireplace.