kül

Kül is a Turkish noun meaning ash, the powder left after something has burned. It denotes the fine residue produced by combustion, typically found in fireplaces, stoves, or after a bonfire. The word is used both literally and metaphorically to refer to remnants, ruin, or memory of what has burned away. The plural form is küller, as in “Odunun külleri soğudu” (The ashes of the wood cooled).

In Turkish literature and everyday speech, kül is a common symbol for things that endure in diminished form after destruction or change, and it can carry connotations of emptiness, quiet, or transformation. The term also appears in other Turkic languages with similar meanings, indicating its shared linguistic heritage across the region.

Etymology and usage notes: kül is considered a native Turkic word, and cognates with the same or closely related meaning appear in neighboring Turkic languages, reflecting a common vocabulary for fire and its residues. While primarily a concrete term, kül also features in figurative expressions to convey persistence of traces or memory after an event.

See also: Turkish language, ash, Turkic languages, symbolism of ash in literature.