Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Ash Wednesday, in the Western Church, the first day of Lent, being the seventh Wednesday before Easter. On this day ashes are placed on the foreheads of the faithful to remind them of death, of the so...

(Encyclopedia) Wednesday: see week.

(Encyclopedia) ash, in chemistry, solid residue of combustion. The chemical composition of an ash depends on that of the substance burned. Wood ash contains metal carbonates (e.g., potassium carbonate) and oxides fo...

(Encyclopedia) ash, in botany, any plant of the genus Fraxinus of the family Oleaceae (olive family), trees and shrubs mainly of north temperate regions. The ashes are characterized by small clusters of greenish flo...

(Encyclopedia) prickly ash, name for two deciduous shrubs or small trees (Zanthoxylum americanum and Z. clava-herculis) of the family Rutaceae (rue family). They are native to E North America and have prickly twigs ...

(Encyclopedia) Shrove Tuesday, day before Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent). In the Latin countries it is the last day of the carnival, called by the French Mardi Gras. ...

(Encyclopedia) pearl ash: see potassium carbonate. ...

(Encyclopedia) soda ash: see sodium carbonate.

(Encyclopedia) Madinat ash Shab mədēˈnət ăsh shăb [key], town, SW Yemen, just N of Aden. Formerly called al-Ittihad, it was built in the 1960s as the federal capital of the Federation of South Arabia. From 196...

(Encyclopedia) mountain ash, name for any species of the genus Sorbus of the family Rosaceae (rose family), hardy ornamental trees and shrubs native to the Northern Hemisphere, not related to the true ashes. They ar...