ebony

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,

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɛb.ən.i/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

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.
   • 2018, Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death, HarperVoyager, page 51:

     “You live up the road past the ebony tree, right?” he asked, looking past me.

3. (countable and uncountable) A deep, dark black colour.

   ebony:  

4. Dark skin colour.
   • 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 130:

     At dawn the hunters were off. There were fifty sleek, black warriors, and in their midst, lithe and active as a young forest god, strode Tarzan of the Apes, his brown skin contrasting oddly with the ebony of his companions. Except for color he was one of them.

5. (countable) A black key on a piano or other keyboard instrument (as opposed to ivory).
   • 1982, Paul McCartney, “Ebony and Ivory”, in Tug of War, performed by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder:

     Ebony and ivory / Live together in perfect harmony / Side by side on my piano keyboard / Oh lord, why don't we?

   • 2016, Peter Wendt, Nikki Magee, Lulu.com, page 52:

     Tony had gone into the storage room and gotten two more standing lamps, one placed near the ebonies and ivories.

ebony (comparative more ebony, superlative most ebony)

1. Made of ebony wood.
2. A deep, dark black colour.

   ebony:  

   • 1961 February, “New "Mini-Buffets" from Wolverton”, in Trains Illustrated, page 79:

     Seats are trimmed in a grey and blue moquette and tables are finished with grey Vyanide tops, gilt edging and ebony legs.

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”, in alt.sex.escorts (Usenet):

     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.

• ebony spleenwort

• calamander
• cocuswood
• tendu
• Appendix:Colors

• ebony on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Boney, Boyne, Bynoe, boney