tinder

tinder

See also: Tinder

English

Etymology

From Middle English tinder, tunder, tender, tonder, from Old English tynder,[1] from Proto-Germanic *tundrą, *tundrǭ (“tinder”). Compare Saterland Frisian Tunder (“tinder”), Dutch tonder (“tinder”), German zünden (“to kindle”), Swedish tända (“to light, to set on fire”). More at tind.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪndə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪndəɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɪndə(r)
• Homophone: tender (pen-pin merger)

Noun

tinder (countable and uncountable, plural tinders)

1. Small dry sticks and finely-divided fibrous matter etc., used to help light a fire.

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

• kindling

Derived terms

• tinder box, tinderbox

Related terms

• teend

Translations

dry sticks etc.

Albanian: ashkël (sq), ashër (sq) Armenian: աբեթ (hy) (abetʿ), կպչան (hy) (kpčʿan), ղավ (hy) (łav) Aromanian: eascã f, iascã f Asturian: esca f, yesca f Catalan: esca (ca) f Czech: troud (cs) m Finnish: taula (fi), sytyke (fi) French: amadou (fr) m Friulian: lescje f Galician: esca (gl) f, isca (gl) f Georgian: აბედი (ka) (abedi) German: Zunder (de) m Hungarian: gyújtós (hu), gyúanyag (hu), alágyújtós (hu), aprófa (hu) Italian: esca (it) f Latin: fōmes m Macedonian: борина f (bórina)

Maori: puaka, pangē, pangi, puaka, pūkoki Norman: tondre m Norwegian: Bokmål: opptenningsved m Polish: hubka (pl) f Portuguese: graveto (pt) m, isca (pt) f Romanian: iască (ro) f Romansch: estga f, escha f Russian: трут (ru) m (trut) Spanish: yesca f Swedish: fnöske (sv) n Tagalog: lulog Turkish: çıra (tr), kav (tr) Venetian: lesca f, esca f Vietnamese: bùi nhùi (vi) Westrobothnian: tönder n, tönner n, elltönner n, frausk m, tånder n

Verb

tinder (third-person singular simple present tinders, present participle tindering, simple past and past participle tindered)

1. (transitive) To set fire to; torch.
   • Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

     Is heaven a murderer when its lightning strikes a would-be murderer in his bed, tindering sheets and skin together?

References

1. “tinder” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.

Anagrams

• dirten, rident, trined

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• tunder, tender, tonder, tyndre, tyndir, tendre, tundir, tundur, tundyr

Etymology

From Old English tynder, from Proto-Germanic *tundrą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtindər/, /ˈtundər/, /ˈtɛndər/

Noun

tinder (uncountable)

1. tinder, firestarters

Descendants

• English: tinder
• Scots: tunder, tundir

References

• “tinder (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-09-27.