Em"ber (?), n. [OE. emmeres, emeres, AS. myrie; akin to Icel. eimyrja, Dan. emmer, MHG. eimere; cf. Icel. eimr vapor, smoke.]
A lighted coal, smoldering amid ashes; -- used chiefly in the plural, to signify mingled coals and ashes; the smoldering remains of a fire.
"He rakes hot
embers."
Dryden.
He takes a lighted ember out of the covered vessel.
Colebrooke.
© Webster 1913.
Em"ber, a. [OE. ymber, AS. ymbren, ymbryne, prop., running around, circuit; ymbe around + ryne a running, fr. rinnan to run. See Amb-, and Run.]
Making a circuit of the year of the seasons; recurring in each quarter of the year; as, ember fasts.
Ember days R. C. & Eng. Ch., days set apart for fasting and prayer in each of the four seasons of the year. The Council of Placentia [A. D. 1095] appointed for ember days the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the first Sunday in Lent, Whitsuntide, the 14th of September, and the 13th of December. The weeks in which these days fall are called ember weeks.
© Webster 1913.