ebony
/ˈɛb.ən.i/ noun, adjective, proper noun
Forms ebonies
- noun (uncountable) A hard, dense, deep black wood from various subtropical and tropical trees, especially of the genus Diospyros.
- noun (countable) A tree that yields such wood.
- noun (countable and uncountable) A deep, dark black colour.
- noun Dark skin colour.
- noun (countable) A black key on a piano or other keyboard instrument (as opposed to ivory).
- adjective Made of ebony wood.
- adjective A deep, dark black colour.
- adjective Dark-skinned; black; especially in reference to African-Americans.
- proper noun A female given name from English.
- proper noun (derogatory) A stereotypical African-American woman.
Synonyms
onyx raven coal black jet black pitch black sable soot black ebony tree Diospyros ebenum ebon
Etymology
From earlier heben, hebeny, from Middle English ebenif, hebenyf (influenced by Late Latin hebeninus), from Ecclesiastical Latin ebenius (“of ebony”), from Latin hebenus (“ebon tree”), from Ancient Greek ἔβενος (ébenos), from Egyptian hbnj, U13:n-Z4:M3
From ebony. First used by African Americans in the 1970s.
Webster’s 1913
- noun 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.
- adjective Made of ebony, or resembling ebony; black; as, an ebony countenance.
Etymology [F. ébène, L. ebenus, fr. Gr. hobnim, pl. Cf. Ebon.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “ebony”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details