ebony

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Archived revision by Rudi Laschenkohl (talk | contribs) as of 04:16, 4 December 2019.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Ebony
WOTD – 12 March 2010

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
An organ keyboard, with wooden keys of ebony (dark) and maple (light)

Etymology

From earlier 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

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈɛb.ən.i/
  • Audio (AU):(file)

Noun

ebony (usually uncountable, plural ebonies)

  1. (uncountable) A hard, dense, deep black wood from various subtropical and tropical trees, especially of the genus Diospyros.
  2. (countable) A tree that yields such wood.
  3. (countable and uncountable) A deep, dark black colour.
    ebony:  
  4. (slang, countable) A black key on a piano or other keyboard instrument

Derived terms

Derived terms

Template:der-mid

Related terms

Template:rel-mid

Translations

Adjective

ebony (comparative more ebony, superlative most ebony)

  1. Made of ebony wood.
  2. A deep, dark black colour.
    ebony colour:   
  3. Dark-skinned; black; especially in reference to African-Americans.
    • 1864, George Adams Fisher, The Yankee conscript: or, Eighteen months in Dixie:
      He called the ebony mistress of the establishment to him, and speaking to her kindly and winningly, as any dutiful husband should, told her to make the change, which she did.
    • 1931, Catherine MacFarlane Carswell, The life of Robert Burns:
      No attempt was made in her new home to discontinue or even to conceal the presence of an ebony mistress and a thriving family of little mulattoes...
    • 2004, "Alyssa", Ebony Girls Need Attention (on newsgroup alt.sex.escorts)
      Want to watch my gorgeous ebony friend, Almond Joy, naked and online 24/7? She recently ended a long-term relationship and is now fully enjoying being a 25 year-old single gal in Beverly Hills.

Translations

See also

Anagrams

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=ebony&oldid=58106887"