ebony

[eb-uh-nee] /ˈɛb ə ni/

noun, plural ebonies.

a hard, heavy, durable wood, most highly prized when black, from various tropical trees of the genus Diospyros, as D. ebenum of southern India and Sri Lanka, used for cabinetwork, ornamental objects, etc.

any tree yielding such wood.

any of various similar woods or trees.

a deep, lustrous black.

adjective

Also, ebon. made of ebony.

of a deep, lustrous black.

Origin

1590-1600; earlier hebeny; see ebon; -y perhaps after ivory

Examples from the web for ebony

The neck was made of western maple with an ebony fingerboard.

British Dictionary definitions for ebony

ebony

/ˈɛbənɪ/

noun (pl) -onies

any of various tropical and subtropical trees of the genus Diospyros, esp D. ebenum of S India, that have hard dark wood: family Ebenaceae See also persimmon

the wood of such a tree, much used for cabinetwork

a black colour, sometimes with a dark olive tinge
(as adjective): an ebony skin

Word Origin

C16 hebeny, from Late Latin ebeninus from Greek ebeninos, from ebenos ebony, of Egyptian origin

Word Origin and History for ebony

1590s, from hebenyf (late 14c.), perhaps a Middle English misreading of Latin hebeninus "of ebony," from Greek ebeninos, from ebenos "ebony," probably from Egyptian hbnj or another Semitic source. Figurative use to suggest intense blackness is from 1620s. As an adjective, from 1590s. French ébène, Old High German ebenus (German Ebenholz) are from Latin ebenus.

ebony in the Bible

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.