tinder
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Birch bark used as tinder for fire
See also: Tinder
English
Etymology
From Middle English tinder, tunder, tender, tonder, from Old English tynder, from Proto-Germanic *tundrą, *tundrǭ (“tinder”). Compare Saterland Frisian Tunder (“tinder”), Dutch tonder (“tinder”), German Zunder (“tinder”), Swedish tända (“to light, to set on fire”). More at tind.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtɪn.də/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈtɪn.dɚ/
- Rhymes: -ɪndə(ɹ)
- Homophone: tender (pen-pin merger)
Noun
tinder (countable and uncountable, plural tinders)
- Small dry sticks and finely-divided fibrous matter etc., used to help light a fire.
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 311, line 157:
- Strike on the Tinder, hoa: / Giue me a Taper: […]
Usage notes
Tinder refers to the first stage of building a fire: sparks light tinder, which then lights kindling, which then lights the main fire.
Coordinate terms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
dry sticks etc.
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Verb
tinder (third-person singular simple present tinders, present participle tindering, simple past and past participle tindered)
- (transitive) To set fire to; torch.
- 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
- Is heaven a murderer when its lightning strikes a would-be murderer in his bed, tindering sheets and skin together?
References
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “tinder”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Further reading
Anagrams
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English tynder, from Proto-Germanic *tundrą.
Pronunciation
Noun
tinder (uncountable)
Descendants
References
- “tinder, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-27.
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
tinder m
- indefinite plural of tind