Etymology From Middle English tinder, tunder, tender, tonder, from Old English tynder, from Proto-Germanic *tundrą, *tundrǭ (“tinder”). Compare Saterland Frisian Tunder (“tinder”), Dutch tonder (“tinder”), German Zunder (“tinder”), Swedish tända (“to light, to set on fire”). More at tind.
1
Small dry sticks and finely-divided fibrous matter etc., used to help light a fire.
Strike on the Tinder, hoa: / Giue me a Taper: […]c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 311, line 157:
Etymology From Middle English tinder, tunder, tender, tonder, from Old English tynder, from Proto-Germanic *tundrą, *tundrǭ (“tinder”). Compare Saterland Frisian Tunder (“tinder”), Dutch tonder (“tinder”), German Zunder (“tinder”), Swedish tända (“to light, to set on fire”). More at tind.
1
To set fire to; torch.
Is heaven a murderer when its lightning strikes a would-be murderer in his bed, tindering sheets and skin together?1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
Tinder
verb
UK /tɪndəː/ · US /tɪndɚ/
Etymology The application's name is likely derived from the verb tinder (“to set fire to, to torch”), and a play on the various meanings of match (the prototype was called MatchBox).
1
To use the dating application Tinder.
I haven't been Tindering or doing the Plenty of Fish thing in quite some time because I've been seeing Date #2, and he's lovely. […] I'm not Tindering or frequenting POF because my heart still belongs to him, but up pops a message on the Friday night.2016 March 7, Khaley Fenn, edited by Alexandria Santamaria, Swipe Right, FriesenPress, →ISBN:
With Tinder, the pretext is to hook-up, but the real pleasure is derived from the Tindering process. […] Summing up the Tindering experience, Tinderers would rather judge 50 pictures in two minutes than spend 50 minutes assessing one potential partner in a traditional face-on-face dating environment.2017 September 29, Tim Delaney, Tim Madigan, “4. Electronic Friendships”, in Friendship and Happiness And the Connection Between the Two, McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers, →ISBN, page 147:
1 more example
There is a time to Tinder—sometimes it's a great escape, a great delight, a time of needed, almost medicinal, connection. Sometimes it even yields real, loving, and joyous relationships. And, there is a time to refrain from Tindering.2021 August 17, Merissa Nathan Gerson, Forget Prayers, Bring Cake: A Single Woman's Guide to Grieving, Mandala Publishing, →ISBN, page 64: