ebony
[eb-uh-nee]
- a hard, heavy, durable wood, most highly prized when black, from various tropical trees of the genus Diospyros, as D. ebenum of southern India and Sri Lanka, used for cabinetwork, ornamental objects, etc.
- any tree yielding such wood.
- any of various similar woods or trees.
- a deep, lustrous black.
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- Also ebon. made of ebony.
- of a deep, lustrous black.
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Origin of ebony
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ebony
Contemporary Examples
Soon thereafter she gave birth to a little daughter who was as white as snow, as red as blood, and her hair as black as ebony.
“I remember saying, ‘Oh my God, Mom, you have to move,’” Ebony remembers.
Afterward, Ebony went to the apartment where her mother had made such a valiant stand.
That did not preclude Ebony Jones from speaking about her mother.
Ebony took a place around the corner, close enough to check in on her mother every day without infringing on her independence.
Historical Examples
In other words, though carved in ebony, he also was in the image of God.
'Tis Sixty Years SinceCharles Francis Adams
He was looking at a faded picture in an ebony frame which hung by the side of the bed.
The Eternal CityHall Caine
The sleepers of the Monterey and Mexican Gulf railway are nearly all of ebony.
Aztec LandMaturin M. Ballou
Their panels of ebony were decorated with bronze applications in the centre.
The Arrow of GoldJoseph Conrad
One suit was inlaid with enamel, black as ebony, and the other with red gold.
If You Touch Them They VanishGouverneur Morris
ebony
- any of various tropical and subtropical trees of the genus Diospyros, esp D. ebenum of S India, that have hard dark wood: family EbenaceaeSee also persimmon
- the wood of such a tree, much used for cabinetwork
- a black colour, sometimes with a dark olive tinge
- (as adjective)an ebony skin
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Word Origin
C16 hebeny, from Late Latin ebeninus from Greek ebeninos, from ebenos ebony, of Egyptian origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ebony
n.
1590s, 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, from 1590s. French ébène, Old High German ebenus (German Ebenholz) are from Latin ebenus.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper