Ebony \Eb"on*y\, a.
Made of ebony, or resembling ebony; black; as, an ebony
countenance.
This ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling.
--Poe.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|
Ebony \Eb"on*y\, n.; pl. Ebonies. [F. ['e]b[`e]ne, L. ebenus,
fr. Gr. ?; prob. of Semitic origin; cf. Heb. hobn[=i]m, pl.
Cf. Ebon.]
A hard, heavy, and durable wood, which admits of a fine
polish or gloss. The usual color is black, but it also occurs
red or green.
Note: The finest black ebony is the heartwood of Diospyros
reticulata, of the Mauritius. Other species of the
same genus (D. Ebenum, Melanoxylon, etc.), furnish
the ebony of the East Indies and Ceylon. The West
Indian green ebony is from a leguminous tree (Brya
Ebenus), and from the Exc[ae]caria glandulosa.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|