Adjacent Words

Ebony definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

EB'ONY, n. [L. ebenus.] A species of hard,heavy and durable wood, which admits of a fine polish or gloss; said to be brought from Madagascar. The most usual color is black, red or green. The best is a jet black, free from veins and rind, very heavy, astringent and of an acrid pungent taste. On burning coals it yields an agreeable perfume, and when green it readily takes fire from its abundance of fat. It is wrought into toys, and used for mosaic and inlaid work.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of a very dark black [syn: ebon, ebony] n
1: a very dark black [syn: coal black, ebony, jet black, pitch black, sable, soot black]
2: hard dark-colored heartwood of the ebony tree; used in cabinetwork and for piano keys
3: tropical tree of southern Asia having hard dark-colored heartwood used in cabinetwork [syn: ebony, ebony tree, Diospyros ebenum]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural -nies) Etymology: probably from Late Latin hebeninus of ebony, from Greek ebeninos, from ebenos ebony, from Egyptian hbnj Date: 1597 1. a hard heavy blackish wood yielded by various tropical chiefly southeast Asian trees (genus Diospyros of the family Ebenaceae, the ebony family) 2. a. a tree yielding ebony b. any of several trees yielding wood like ebony II. adjective Date: 1597 1. made of or resembling ebony 2. black, dark

Britannica Concise

Wood of several species of trees of the genus Diospyros (family Ebenaceae), found widely in the tropics. The best is very heavy, almost black, and from heartwood only. Because of its color, durability, hardness, and ability to take a high polish, ebony is used for cabinetwork and inlaying, piano keys, knife handles, and turned articles. The best Indian and Ceylon ebony is produced by D. ebenum, which grows in abundance west of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. Jamaica, Amer., or green ebony comes from Brya ebenus, a leguminous tree or shrub.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & adj. --n. (pl. -ies) 1 a heavy hard dark wood used for furniture. 2 any of various trees of the genus Diospyros producing this. --adj. 1 made of ebony. 2 black like ebony. Etymology: earlier hebeny f. (h)eben(e) = ebon, perh. after ivory

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ebony Eb"on*y, a. Made of ebony, or resembling ebony; black; as, an ebony countenance. This ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling. --Poe.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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. 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. Ebony is a very hard, heavy, dark-coloured wood. ...a small ebony cabinet. N-UNCOUNT: oft N n 2. Something that is ebony is a very deep black colour. (LITERARY) He had rich, soft ebony hair. ADJ

Easton's Bible Dictionary

a black, hard wood, brought by the merchants from India to Tyre (Ezek. 27:15). It is the heart-wood, brought by Diospyros ebenus, which grows in Ceylon and Southern India.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

eb'-o-ni (hobhnim (pl. only), vocalization uncertain; compare Arabic abnus):

Mentioned (Eze 27:15) along with ivory as merchandise of Tyre brought by the men of Dedan. This is the heavy, black, heart-wood of various species of Diospyros, natives of Southern India and Ceylon; the best kind is obtained from D. ebenum.

The sap-wood, being white and valueless, is cut away, but the trunks are sufficiently large to leave blocks of heart-wood 2 ft. in diameter and 10 or more ft. long. Ebony was used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, as well as the Phoenicians, for various purposes; it was frequently inlaid with ivory. In Europe it has been a favorite for cabinet-making down to recent times.

E. W. G. Masterman

Moby Thesaurus

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