▪ I. ashen, a.1
(ˈæʃən)
Also 4 (esscen), aisshen, 5–6 asshen, 6 aschyn.
[f. ash n.1 + -en.]
1. Of or pertaining to an ash-tree. (Cf. aspen.)
| 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 6 b, The iuice..of ashen leaues..is good to make fatte men leane. c 1595 Norden Spec. Brit. Cornw. (1728) 34 Penwith signifieth the head of ashen trees. 1675 Hobbes Homer 188 A goodly ashen tree. 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece i. iii. 217 Put the Ashen Keys into the Pickle. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. cxv, By ashen roots the violets blow. |
2. Made of the wood of the ash.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 5614 An esscen [? rescen] kyst sco did be wroght. c 1450 Merlin vii. 117 Arthur..griped a grete aisshen spere. c 1525 Skelton Vox Pop. Vox Dei 253 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 277 Thay that of latt did supe Owtt of an aschyn cuppe. 1815 Scott Ld. of Isles iv. ix, Each his ashen bow unbent. |
▪ II. ashen, a.2
(ˈæʃən)
[f. ash n.2 + -en.]
1. Of ashes. Also fig.
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems I. 349 Wait soul, until thine ashen garments fall! 1879 Tourgee Fool's Errand xlvi. 350 A Sodom-like fruitage of ashen words. 1882 Pall Mall G. 25 Oct. 2/2 The effects of the ashen shower were not instantaneous. |
2. Ash-coloured, whitish-grey, deadly pale.
| 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xiv, The flush of rage O'ercame the ashen hue of age. 1875 Longfellow Summer Day by Sea, Yon little cloud of ashen gray and gold. |