Cinderella

Cinderella [-'s] proper n

Fr. Cendrillon < cendres, ashes; see cinder.

  1. Fairy tale princess; heroine of a story in “Mother Goose Tales” (1697) by French writer Perrault; children's book character who sat near the fire in the ashes when her work was done; maiden whose fairy godmother changed a pumpkin into a coach and mice into horses; [phrase “Cinderella's Bays”] a magic trick; a fairy tale.