ember

[ em-ber ]

noun

1. a small live piece of coal, wood, etc., as in a dying fire.
2. embers, the smoldering remains of a fire.

ember

/ ˈɛmbə /

noun

1. a glowing or smouldering piece of coal or wood, as in a dying fire
2. the fading remains of a past emotion

   the embers of his love

Word History and Origins

Origin of ember¹

before 1000; Middle English eemer, emeri, Old English ǣmerge, ǣmyrie (cognate with Old Norse eimyrja, Old High German eimuria ), equivalent to ǣm- (cognate with Old Norse eimr steam) + -erge, -yrie, akin to Old English ys ( e ) le ember, Latin ūrere to burn

Word History and Origins

Origin of ember¹

Old English ǣmyrge; related to Old Norse eimyrja ember, eimr smoke, Old High German eimuria ember

Example Sentences

Just grab a dead cracked cap polypore, get one edge of the shelf fungus smoldering with a coal from your fire, and carry it for an hour or two in a fireproof container to transport the live ember to your new campfire location.

From Popular-Science

Place the pieces close together, eliminating gaps that would drop your embers down into the snow.

From Popular-Science

When the Khoisan hunter-gatherers of sub-Saharan Africa gazed upon the meandering trail of stars and dust that split the night sky, they saw the embers of a campfire.

From Quanta Magazine

Just defining the fire dynamics of embers alone is a huge task.

From ProPublica

Another about mulch that lets embers smolder until a wind whips them into “open flames that creep right up to people’s house walls.”

From ProPublica

One night, driving home, I passed an alley and saw someone light a crack pipe, the tiny red ember flaring bright.

From The Daily Beast

If just a single ember remains hot at its core, Olshanski notes, the result can be an inferno.

From The Daily Beast

Fire was actually carried in hollowed out branches in which an ember was placed.

From The Daily Beast

I understood, and, stepping to the fire, returned with a charred ember.

From Project Gutenberg

The other snatched a blazing ember from the mud chimney and struck the leading wolf dead partly within the hut.

From Project Gutenberg

When he ceased silence reigned, except for the occasional snapping of a burning ember.

From Project Gutenberg

It grew and expanded till it formed a huge ember-mottled orchid with vast petals trembling in the wind.

From Project Gutenberg

Darius lay as I had last seen him; and him we buried in the maize clearing at the back, with the ember glow for funeral lights.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ash
• cinder