ebur

Latin

ebur Bȳzantīnum (a Byzantine ivory)

Alternative forms

• ebor (Medieval Latin)

Etymology

Loan word, probably from Demotic yb (“ivory, Elephantine”), from Egyptian (ꜣbw, “ivory, elephant, Elephantine”). Compare Coptic ⲓⲏⲃ (iēb, “Elephantine”); also note Sanskrit इभ (íbha) and Tigre [script needed] (ʔabot).

In any case, probably cognate with the second half of Ancient Greek ἐλέφας (eléphas, “elephant”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈe.bur/, [ˈɛbʊr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈe.bur/, [ˈɛːbur]

• Audio (Classical):

  (file)

Noun

ebur n (genitive eboris); third declension

1. ivory (material)
2. a thing made of ivory.
3. (figuratively) an elephant

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	ebur	ebora
Genitive	eboris	eborum
Dative	eborī	eboribus
Accusative	ebur	ebora
Ablative	ebore	eboribus
Vocative	ebur	ebora

Synonyms

• (elephant): elephantus, elephās

Derived terms

• eboreus
• eborārius
• eburneus
• eburātus

 

Descendants

• English: ivory
• French: ivoire
• Italian: avorio
• Old Irish: ebur
  • Irish: eabhar
• Romanian: ivoriu
• Spanish: ébore

References

• “ĕbur”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ebur”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ĕbŭr in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 568/3.
• “ebur”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ebur”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• “ebur” on pages 583–4 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

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Meriam

Noun

ebur

1. bird

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Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *eburaz. Cognates include Old English eofor, Old Norse jǫfurr.

Noun

ebur m

1. boar

Declension

Declension of ebur (masculine a-stem)

case	singular	plural
nominative	ebur	ebura
accusative	ebur	ebura
genitive	ebures	eburo
dative	ebure	eburum
instrumental	eburu	—

Descendants

• Middle High German: ëber
  • German: Eber
  • Hunsrik: Ewert