ebony means made of ebony wood.
ebony is pronounced /ˈɛb.ən.i/.
Why “ebony” is a great word
Of a deep, dark black color, often likened to the dense, dark heartwood of the ebony tree. From Middle English *ebenif*, from Late Latin *hebeninus* ("of ebony"), from Latin *hebenus* ("ebon tree"), from Ancient Greek ἔβενος (*ébenos*), from Egyptian *hbnj* ("ebony tree"). Unlike "jet," which implies a hard, glossy black of mineral or polished stone, or "sable," a literary and heraldic black of fur and flags, ebony is a black of substance and grain. It is the shadow trapped inside tropical wood, the lacquered silence of a piano key, the polished dark of an heirloom box that holds no light—a darkness not of absence, but of a profound and quiet density.
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
adj
- Made of ebony wood.
- A deep, dark black colour.e.g.“Near-synonyms: onyx, raven”
- Dark-skinned; black; especially in reference to African-Americans.e.g.“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.” — 1864, George Adams Fisher, The Yankee conscript: or, Eighteen months in Dixie:
name
- A female given name from English.
- A stereotypical African-American woman.
noun
- A hard, dense, deep black wood from various subtropical and tropical trees, especially of the genus Diospyros.
- A tree that yields such wood.e.g.““You live up the road past the ebony tree, right?” he asked, looking past me.” — 2018, Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death, HarperVoyager, page 51:
- A deep, dark black colour.e.g.“Near-synonyms: onyx, raven”
- Dark skin colour.
- A black key on a piano or other keyboard instrument (as opposed to ivory).e.g.“Ebony and ivory / Live together in perfect harmony / Side by side on my piano keyboard / Oh lord, why don't we?” — 1982, Paul McCartney, “Ebony and Ivory”, in Tug of War, performed by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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