cinder

\ \ [OE] Despite the similarity of form and meaning, cinder has no etymological connection with French cendre (which comes from Latin cinis ‘ashes’, and is thus related to English incinerate and cineraria, a plant so named because of the grey down on its leaves). It is a Germanic word, related to German sinter ‘deposit formed by evaporation’ (itself borrowed into English in the 18th century), and from Old English times until the 16th century was usually spelled with an initial s-; the c- is an adoption from French cendre. The name of the fairy-tale character Cinderella is a translation and adaptation of French cendrillon, originally a generic term for any downtrodden kitchen maid who spent much of her time among the cendres of the hearth.