ash2

noun

• 1 (also ash tree) a tree with silver-gray bark and compound leaves. The ash is widely distributed throughout north temperate regions where it can form forests.

  • Genus Fraxinus, family Oleaceae: many species, including the North American white ash (F. americana) and the European ash (F. excelsior)
• the hard pale wood of the ash tree.
• [with modifier] any of a number of unrelated trees with leaves similar to the ash. See also mountain ash.

• 2an Old English runic letter (so named from the word of which it was the first letter).
• the symbol æ or Æ, used in the Roman alphabet in place of the runic letter, and as a phonetic symbol. See also Æ.