Ebony

Ebony
Ebony Eb"on*y, n.; pl. {Ebonies}. [F. ['e]b[`e]ne, L. ebenus, fr. Gr. ?; prob. of Semitic origin; cf. Heb. hobn[=i]m, pl. Cf. {Ebon}.] A hard, heavy, and durable wood, which admits of a fine polish or gloss. The usual color is black, but it also occurs red or green. [1913 Webster]

Note: The finest black ebony is the heartwood of {Diospyros reticulata}, of the Mauritius. Other species of the same genus ({D. Ebenum}, {Melanoxylon}, etc.), furnish the ebony of the East Indies and Ceylon. The West Indian green ebony is from a leguminous tree ({Brya Ebenus}), and from the {Exc[ae]caria glandulosa}. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Ebony — (engl. Ebenholz) heißen: Mehrere Orte in den Vereinigten Staaten: Ebony (Arkansas) Ebony (Texas) Ebony (Virginia) Eine Zeitschrift, siehe Ebony (Zeitschrift) Träger des Vornamens Ebony: Ebony Browne, US amerikanische Singer Songwriterin Ebony… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ebony — Eb on*y, a. Made of ebony, or resembling ebony; black; as, an ebony countenance. [1913 Webster] This ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling. Poe. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • EBONY — EBONY, heartwood of certain trees. The Hebrew word hovenim, which occurs in Ezekiel (27:15) in a reference to Tyre s commerce in horns of ivory and hovenim, is identified by most translators and exegetes as ebony, called hbn in Egyptian. Several… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ebony — 1590s, from hebenyf (late 14c.), perhaps a M.E. misreading of L. hebeninus of ebony, from Gk. ebeninos, from ebenos ebony, probably from Egyptian hbnj or another Semitic source. Figurative use to suggest intense blackness is from 1620s. As an… …   Etymology dictionary

  • ebony — [eb′ə nē] n. pl. ebonies [ME ebenif < LL(Ec) ebenius < ebenus: see EBON] 1. the hard, heavy, dark, durable wood of any of various trees, esp. of a group of persimmons native to tropical Africa, Asia, and Sri Lanka: it is used for furniture… …   English World dictionary

  • ebony — ► NOUN 1) heavy blackish or very dark brown wood from a tree of tropical and warm regions. 2) a very dark brown or black colour. ORIGIN Greek ebenos ebony tree …   English terms dictionary

  • Ebony — f English: from the name of the deeply black wood (Late Latin ebenius, from Greek ebenos; the word seems to be ultimately of Egyptian origin). The name has been adopted very recently (since the 1970s) by Blacks as a symbol of pride in their… …   First names dictionary

  • ébony — (Noël Essi Kouamé, dit Noël X.) (1944 1986) poète ivoirien: Déjà vu (1983) …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Ebony —   [ ebənɪ, englisch] das, (s), das Ebenholz …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Ebony — trademark a US monthly magazine especially for ↑African Americans …   Dictionary of contemporary English

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