Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CHAR, v.t.² [Russ. jaryu or charyu, to roast, or burn; or goryu, to burn, or be burnt; and with a prefix, sgarayu or sgorayu, to burn; Fr. charrée, ashes. Qu. Heb. Ch. Eth. חרר. Class Gr, No. 22, 23. This seems to be the root of L. carbo. See Chark.]

1. To burn or reduce to coal or carbon; to reduce to charcoal, by expelling all volatile matter from wood. This is done by burning wood slowly under a covering of turf and earth.
2. To expel all volatile matter from stone or earth by heat. The stone or earth charred from all foreign visible ingredient. – Kirwan.