ebony
pronunciation
How to pronounce ebony in British English:
UK [ˈebəni]
How to pronounce ebony in American English:
US [ˈɛbəni]
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- Noun:
- a very dark black
- hard dark-colored heartwood of the ebony tree; used in cabinetwork and for piano keys
- tropical tree of southern Asia having hard dark-colored heartwood used in cabinetwork
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- Adjective:
- very dark black
Word Origin
- ebony
- ebony: [15] Ebony is ultimately of Semitic origin. The Greeks took it from some Middle Eastern source, perhaps Egyptian hbnj, and turned it into ébenos. This made its way via Latin ebenus, later ebanus, and Old French eban into English. At first English simply used the French form (which as ebon survived into modern times as an archaism), but from the 16th century forms ending in -y began to supersede it.
- ebony (n.)
- dark, hard wood favored for carving, musical instruments, etc., 1590s, perhaps an extended form of Middle English ebon, or from hebenyf (late 14c.), perhaps a Middle English misreading of Latin hebeninus "of ebony," from Greek ebeninos, from ebenos "ebony," probably from Egyptian hbnj or another Semitic source. Figurative use to suggest intense blackness is from 1620s. As an adjective, "of ebony, made of ebony," from 1590s; in reference to skin color of Africans, by 1813. French ébène, Old High German ebenus (German Ebenholz) are from Latin ebenus.
Example
- 1. They spread before us their riches of gold and silver , of ivory and ebony , and we spread before them our hearts and our spirits ;
- 2. Pictured : third best of breed gc derry downs guy noir , ebony oriental - longhair division male .
- 3. Ebony five times the therapy collapsing , keel oyster heels .
- 4. And walter has the ebony stone in his possession ?
- 5. They were hunting for ebony and rosewood which the fish and wildlife service ( fws ) alleges was imported from india in violation of the lacey act , a 1900 law originally designed to protect fauna from poachers .