Cinderella

See also: cinderella

English

Cinderella.

Alternative forms

(common noun): cinderella

Etymology

From cinder, as in little cinder girl. Compare French Cendrillon.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌsɪndəˈɹɛlə/
- Audio (UK) (file)

Proper noun

Cinderella

A popular fairy tale embodying a classic folk tale myth-element of unjust oppression and triumphant reward.
The main character in this story, a mistreated and impoverished girl. At a royal ball she meets a handsome prince who later identifies her by means of a dropped article, most commonly a slipper, and removes her from her poverty.
(rare) A female given name originating as a coinage.

Derived terms

terms derived from Cinderella

Cinderfella
Cinderellaesque
Cinderella club
Cinderella complex
Cinderella dance
Cinderella effect
Cinderella liberty
Cinderella sale
Cinderella State
Cinderella story

Translations

fairy tale

Albanian: E Përhitura
Arabic: سِنْدِرِيلَا‎ f (sindirīlā)
Armenian: Մոխրոտ (Moxrot)
Basque: Errauskine, Maria Errauskin
Belarusian: Папялу́шка f (Papjalúška)
Breton: Luduennig f
Bulgarian: Пепе́ляшка f (Pepéljaška)
Catalan: Ventafocs (ca) f
Chinese:
Cantonese: 灰姑娘 (fui¹ gu¹ noeng⁴)
Mandarin: 灰姑娘 (zh) (Huīgūniang), 仙杜瑞拉 (Xiāndùruìlā)
Min Nan: 灰姑娘 (Hoe-ko͘-niû / He-ko͘-niû)
Czech: Popelka (cs) f
Danish: Askepot (da)
Dutch: Assepoester (nl)
Esperanto: Cindrulino
Estonian: Tuhkatriinu
Faroese: Øskufía f
Finnish: Tuhkimo (fi)
French: Cendrillon (fr) f
Galician: Cincenta f
German: Aschenputtel (de) n
Greek: Σταχτοπούτα (el) f (Stachtopoúta)
Hebrew: סינדרלה‎ f (sinderela), לכלוכית‎ f (likhlukhit)
Hindi: सिंड्रेला f (siṇḍrelā)
Hungarian: Hamupipőke (hu)
Icelandic: Öskubuska
Irish: Luaithríona f
Italian: Cenerentola (it) f
Japanese: シンデレラ (Shinderera), 灰かぶり姫 (はいかぶりひめ, Hai-kaburi-hime), 灰だらけ姫 (はいだらけひめ, Hai-darake-hime), 灰まみれ (はいまみれ, Hai-mamire)
Korean: 신데렐라 (ko) (Sinderella)
Macedonian: Пепе́лашка f (Pepélaška)
Maltese: Sindirella f
Marathi: सिंडरेला f (siṇḍrelā)
Mongolian: Үнсгэлжин (Ünsgelžin)
Norwegian: Askepott (no)
Persian: سیندرلا‎ (sinderelâ)
Polish: Kopciuszek (pl) m
Portuguese: Cinderela f
Romanian: Cenușăreasa (ro) f
Russian: Зо́лушка (ru) f (Zóluška)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: Пепељуга f
Roman: Pepeljuga f
Skolt Sami: Kunnpeeipuž
Slovak: Popoluška f
Slovene: Pepélka (sl) f
Spanish: Cenicienta f
Swedish: Askungen (sv)
Thai: ซินเดอเรลล่า (sin-dəə-rel-lâa)
Turkish: Külkedisi
Ukrainian: Попелю́шка f (Popeljúška)
Urdu: سنڈریلا‎ f (siṇḍrēlā)
Uyghur: كۈلقىز‎ (külqiz)
Vietnamese: Cô bé Lọ Lem
Walloon: Cropecinde f (neologism)
Yakut: Күлчээнэ (Külçeene)

main character in this fairy tale

Afrikaans: Aspoestertjie
Albanian: Hirushja
American Sign Language: C Contact Contact
Arabic: سندريلا‎
Armenian: Մոխրոտ (Moxrot)
Azerbaijani: Zoluşka
Belarusian: Папялу́шка (Papjalúška)
Bengali: সিন্ড্যারেল্যা (sinḍærelæ)
Bulgarian: Пепе́ляшка f (Pepéljaška)
Catalan: Ventafocs (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 灰姑娘 (zh) (Huīgūniang), 仙杜瑞拉 (Xiāndùruìlā)
Czech: Popelka (cs) f
Danish: Askepot (da)
Dutch: Assepoester (nl)
Esperanto: Cindrulino
Estonian: Tuhkatriinu
Faroese: Øskufía f
Finnish: Tuhkimo (fi)
French: Cendrillon (fr) f
Galician: Cinderela, Cincenta f
Georgian: კონკია (ḳonḳia)
German: Aschenbrödel (de) n, Aschenputtel (de) n
Greek: Σταχτοπούτα (el) f (Stachtopoúta)
Hebrew: סינדרלה‎ f (sinderela), לכלוכית‎ f (likhlukhit)
Hindi: सिंडिरेल्ला f (siṇḍirellā), सिंड्रेला f (siṇḍrelā)
Hungarian: Hamupipőke (hu)
Icelandic: Öskubuska
Indonesian: Cinderella
Irish: Luaithríona
Italian: Cenerentola (it) f
Japanese: シンデレラ (Shinderera)
Kannada: ಉಪೇಕ್ಷಿತ (kn) (upēkṣita)
Korean: 신데렐라 (ko) (Sinderella)
Latin: Cinerella
Latvian: Pelnrušķīte
Lithuanian: Pelenė
Low Saxon: Aschenpüeling
Macedonian: Пепе́лашка f (Pepélaška)
Maltese: Sindirella f
Marathi: सिंडरेला f (siṇḍrelā)
Mongolian: Үнсгэлжин (Ünsgelžin)
Norwegian: Askepott (no)
Persian: سیندرلا‎ (sinderelâ)
Polish: Kopciuszek (pl) m
Portuguese: Cinderela f
Romanian: Cenușăreasa (ro) f
Russian: Зо́лушка (ru) f (Zóluška)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: Пепељуга f
Roman: Pepeljuga f
Slovak: Popoluška f
Slovene: Pepélka (sl) f
Spanish: Cenicienta f
Swahili: Bibi Majivu
Swedish: Askungen (sv)
Tagalog: Sinderela
Tamil: சின்டெரெல்லா என்னும் கதையில் வரும் நாயகி (ciṉṭerellā eṉṉum kataiyil varum nāyaki)
Telugu: గుర్తింపునోచుకోని ఒక వ్యక్తి యొక్క లేక వస్తువుయొక్క ప్రజ్ఞ లేక అందం (gurtimpunōcukōni oka vyakti yokka lēka vastuvuyokka prajña lēka andaṁ)
Thai: ซินเดอเรลล่า (sin-dəə-rel-lâa)
Turkish: Külkedisi
Ukrainian: Попелю́шка (Popeljúška)
Urdu: سنڈریلا‎
Uyghur: كۈلقىز‎ (külqiz)
Vietnamese: Lọ Lem
Yakut: Күлчээнэ (Külçeene)
Yiddish: סינדערעלאַ‎ (sinderela)

Noun

Cinderella (plural Cinderellas)

(by analogy) A mistreated and impoverished girl.
(attributive) Something rising unexpectedly from obscurity to success, as a Cinderella team.
(attributive) Something neglected and denied resources, as a Cinderella service.
- 2020 January 2, David Clough, “How InterCity came back from the brink”, in Rail, page 64:
  A very early example of this can be seen in the case of the Midland Main Line (MML). At the start of 1982, this was the Cinderella of the InterCity portfolio but building more High Speed Trains (HSTs) to replace 90mph trainsets was out of the question. During 1982-83, Bleasdale shuffled his HST pack by taking sets from the Eastern and Western Regions and allocated these to the MML.
(philately) A stamp or stamp-like label issued for purposes other than postal administration, not issued by a central government, or not listed in most general catalogues.
(rare, derogatory) A woman employed to clean, especially to remove ash from stoves and fireplaces.

References

L. N. and M. Williams, Cinderella Stamps, London, Heinemann, 1970