From Old English 'aemerge' — one of the few native Germanic fire words that survived, not borrowed from Latin or Greek.
A small piece of burning or glowing coal or wood in a dying fire; the smoldering remains of a fire.
From Old English 'æmerge' or 'ǣmerge' (ember, cinder), from Proto-Germanic *aimuzjō or *aimurjō (ember), possibly related to Old Norse 'eimyrja' (embers) and Old High German 'eimuria.' The Proto-Germanic word may derive from *aimaz (smoke, steam), related to PIE *ai- (to burn, to glow). The modern English form 'ember' with its final '-er' shows the influence of analogy or folk etymology, reshaping the older form to fit a more familiar English pattern. Key roots: *aimuzjō (Proto-Germanic: "ember, from *aimaz (
The 'Ember Days' in the Christian liturgical calendar — four sets of three days for fasting and prayer — have nothing to do with fire embers. They derive from Old English 'ymbren' (a circuit, a revolution), from Latin 'quattuor tempora' (four times, four seasons). The similarity to 'ember' is pure coincidence, though folk etymology has tried
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