ebony Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a very dark black
    jet black; soot black; sable; coal black; pitch black.
  2. noun hard dark-colored heartwood of the ebony tree; used in cabinetwork and for piano keys
  3. noun tropical tree of southern Asia having hard dark-colored heartwood used in cabinetwork
    ebony tree; Diospyros ebenum.
  4. adjective satellite of a very dark black
    ebon.

WordNet

Eb"on*y noun
Etymology
F. ébène, L. ebenus, fr. Gr. prob. of Semitic origin; cf. Heb. hobnim, pl. Cf. Ebon.
Wordforms
plural Ebonies
Definitions
  1. 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. ✍ 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 Excæcaria glandulosa.
Eb"on*y adjective
Definitions
  1. Made of ebony, or resembling ebony; black; as, an ebony countenance.
    This ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling. Poe.

Webster 1913